A Just Reward
by blaircow
Summary: Post-war. Sakura gets what she deserves, what she fought for, and what she earned. Through strengthening the bonds with her teammates to her work with the perverted Hokage, these are the moments that came after. Unashamedly, Kakasaku.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

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The dust settled but her heart didn't.

If anything, after the medical tents emptied, after the funerals finished, her heart hardened. War had forced her team back together, it was the glue that helped them defeat the common foe but it only made Team Seven comrades in arms, not in spirit.

Sai noticed the strange dynamic between the original members of the team. He saw that while Naruto happily took Sasuke back, Sakura remained edgy around him after the war ended. Kakashi noticed Sakura's discomfiture too and was equally uneasy. The team wasn't together all that often for those hidden resentments and anxieties to show. Kakashi was busy organizing the village from the Hokage Tower, Sakura managing the hospital, Naruto running around keep up relationships with the other villages, and Sasuke brooding in the Uchiha district. Months past that way.

They decided, well Naruto did, to have a reunion dinner. Like every time before, it was their knuckle-headed teammate that finally looked up and realized they were drifting apart, however accidentally or intentionally it may have been.

Sakura arrived first at Ichiraku. She came during her one hour dinner break from the hospital. Between her and Shizune, they managed to have someone there twenty-four hours a day, at the cost of pulling twelve hour shifts most days. She hoped by arriving early it would mean she could leave first. The dinner break was a convenient excuse.

She ordered immediately upon sitting down and examined the blood caked under her fingernails while she waited for the rest of her team to arrive. The village was returning to normal after the war, Ichiraku was evidence of that, and soon she would run out of acceptable busy time. Missions would resume with time and Sakura wanted to continue her duty as a shinobi but wasn't so sure she could do it as a team with Naruto and Sasuke. She figured Sai and Yamato would return to ANBU and disappear into their own busy and often solitary lives.

His chakra disturbed the air, seconds before the man himself pushed through the curtain and took a seat two over from her.

"Evening, Sasuke." Sakura greeted pleasantly.

"Hn."

She ground her teeth in annoyance. If she could try to be civil despite everything he had yet to apologize for then he could certainly muster more than one syllable. The silence continued uncomfortably until Teuchi-san placed her bowl of ramen in front of her.

Sakura's face lit up at the sight of the steaming bowl and thanked him happily before digging in. She ate with spectacular speed and threw side long glances at her teammate as he drank from a cup of green tea. With luck, she could leave before the whole team powwow.

Sasuke stared intently into the green liquid and she took pity on his tense expression. Without stopping herself she blurted out, "Are you going to leave again?"

His eyes flashed to hers. The question had gone unspoken since the war ended some months ago. Everything was still fresh, the wounds, the dead, and the scars. She noticed how difficult it was to place Sasuke into the village after his long departure and worried how he was coping.

She knew from some of the shinobi that they either reserved cool indifference for the Uchiha or were actively suspicious of him. No matter what side he had been on in the final battle, the truth of the last three years was a heavy reminder of where his loyalties once laid. Sakura found herself waffling harshly between the two but tried for nostalgia's sake and partly Naruto's to approach Sasuke amicably.

"Do you want me to stay?" He said after some time.

She wasn't sure how to answer but was thankfully saved from responding when the obnoxiously loud voice of her other teammate caught her attention.

"But, Kakashi-sensei, that's why we should have shared baths!" Naruto whined.

Kakashi's lazy drawl replied, "Consider it my gift to save it for when you're Hokage."

The two entered the noodle establishment side by side and Sakura finally relaxed at the sight of her human buffers. Naruto excitedly greeted them both and took the seat between her and Sasuke. Kakashi sat to her left without a sound.

"No Yamato or Sai?" Sakura asked.

Naruto's face screwed up in annoyance. "Sai said a meal together was an unnecessary social custom."

"And Yamato sends his regards and apologies from Suna." Kakashi added.

She nodded in understanding and secretly wished she used a similar excuse. Naruto went on to order three bowls of ramen in place of their missing teammates for himself and started right in on a mostly one-sided conversation.

She was content to listen to Naruto animatedly explain his day establishing some treaty with Gaara over something. It was hard to pick out the details with Naruto's speed of delivery but she smiled nonetheless just to hear him talk about something mundane.

Kakashi caught her sanguine expression and nudged her foot with his. She looked up and saw his own eye crinkle smile over their boisterous teammate. They had immense pride in Naruto's journey, not for any role they might have played, but for the adversity he managed to overcome all on his own. He never stopped smiling and he never gave up. Naruto had been a beacon of hope for years and the rest of the world was learning that now too.

"…but you'll see that when all of us train together." Naruto declared.

Sakura's eyes widened and she spun around to the other side of the bar. "Train together? Naruto, what do you mean train together?" She couldn't keep her confusion from her tone.

He looked at her with a wide smile and explained. "Well I thought it would be fun to have a friendly spar so we can learn each other's fighting styles before taking missions."

It was like a sucker punch to her stomach, she was too shocked to formulate some response. He innocently planned for the team to get back together and Sakura paled at the thought. To be on a team with them again was to resign herself to the background and after everything, Sakura refused to move aside for the sake of male ego.

Kakashi saved her from responding. "Mah, Naurto-chan, I haven't decided on team formations yet."

"But Shikamaru told me that he was assigned to the operational defense team." Naruto complained.

"Naruto, with my work at the hospital and Yamato busy with the reconstruction, it might not be possible." Sakura managed to gather herself and contribute. She hoped she didn't seem too eager in her excuse.

Naruto seemed to consider her words and relented on the idea. "We should still train together though."

To that she only had one ace up her sleeve: evasion. "Sure. Oh, speaking of the hospital, my break's almost over. I should get going." She placed a few bills on the table and stood to leave.

Naruto pouted at her early departure but stood and gave her a hug. She didn't bother to look in Sasuke's direction.

"I'll walk you back. There's a few things I wanted to discuss about our medical facilities." Kakashi stated much to her surprise.

"That almost sounded like you're the Hokage." She teased and pretended to be scandalized.

He was unamused but couldn't completely hide his smile. They said their goodbyes again and headed out. They walked side by side through the street towards the hospital in silence.

It was a vastly different silence from the one between Sasuke and her. In Kakashi's presence the silence was comfortable, familiar even. She peeked at him through the corner of her eye and noticed how he stood a tiny bit straighter as he walked through the streets and nodded to the passing shinobi who stood at attention as he passed.

It wasn't so much that he was Hokage that earned him that level of respect but more so for the part he played in the war. He was a living legend and strangely, she didn't feel the slightest bit out-classed at his side. As the person to carry on Tsunade's legacy, more so than Shizune, Sakura was recognized by civilians and shinobi alike.

They walked all the way to the front entrance of the hospital without a word. She couldn't help it when she bowed to him. "Thank you, Hokage-sama for seeing me back to the hospital."

"Not you too." He groaned and pressed a hand to his face.

Sakura grinned. "Sorry, _Hokage-sama_." She emphasized the formal title and earned a death glare.

She started to walk towards the entrance when Kakashi called her name. Sakura stopped and waited for him to continue. "Naruto was right, I am completing team formations now. I wanted to hear your thoughts."

Sakura stiffened. While she could lie to Naruto about her feelings towards a Team Seven revival, she knew it would be impossible under Kakashi's watchful eyes.

"You're a high calibre ninja, Sakura. Your skills are valued not only by myself but all of the shinobi nations." His praise made her blush and she self-consciously tucked a stray hair behind her ear. "think you would enjoy more time in the field. That being said there are two placements available that would benefit from someone of your capacity."

"One would be for a newly formed ANBU team that is comprised of Yamato and Sai that will mainly take medium to long term surveillance missions. It would include infiltration and under-cover work. The other team would be made up of the former Team Seven, Sasuke and Naruto and will serve diplomatic as well as enforcement functions."

She swallowed dryly. "Is that what Sasuke and Naruto want?"

Kakashi shook his head. "I wanted to speak with you first before approaching them."

"Why?"

He looked at her knowingly. "That team's success would only be possible if you were on it. Without you, Sasuke and Naruto are too impulsive and reckless to work together."

Sakura would've snorted at the truth of his statement if it weren't for the look in Kakashi's eyes. The absence of the Sharingan meant both his eyes were always visible and she found it easier to read his expressions. He was concerned for her.

The choices he was offering were not taken lightly either. She was torn. Yamato and Sai, she had grown to see as two more brothers in her family, she would relish the opportunity to work with them as a unit and could already envision their success.

Working with Naruto and Sasuke was taking a literal step back, to a past she did not remember fondly. Anxiety thrummed through her body at the thought of trusting Sasuke as she trusted her other teammates again. That said, she knew what a let-down it would be to Naruto and possibly doom any future relationship with Sasuke. There was no simple way of saying 'sorry but I can't work with the person who actively tried to murder us for the better part of three years' without hurting someone's feelings.

Sakura sighed deeply and searched Kakashi's face for the answer. He was strangely neutral in expression and that bothered her more than she liked.

"What should I do?" She asked him directly.

Kakashi stuffed his hands into his pockets and leaned back on the balls of his feet. No matter his position he was always just Kakashi when she looked at him. One day she might see him as the Hokage instead of her lazy ex-sensei.

"You've never needed my guidance, Sakura. You are capable of choosing what is best for you." She frowned at his less than helpful words and Kakashi smiled at her obvious vexation. "But for what it's worth, I think you need a break from the past. For at least a little while."

Sakura stared at him then lowered her head in embarrassment. He had read her discomfort long before she said anything about it. She felt a smile tug at her lips at his unassuming way of caring for her.

"If it's alright with you, Hokage-sama, please assign me to Yamato's team."

"Hai, hai, Haruno-sensei." He responded.

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A/N: So this is what I desperately wanted to happen when Naruto finished. And while I always ship Kakasaku, I would've gladly let her set sail with ANYONE except Sasuke. I mean how in the world could she marry the man who tried to kill her, her friends, and treated her like a doormat? Since I can't change canon, here is the story I envisioned instead.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

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Two Years Later….

"Shit, he's heavy." Sakura cursed and heaved Yamato higher up on her shoulder.

Sai grunted in the affirmative. She frowned at the way he was favouring his left and hoped he could make it to the hospital. Yamato was in far worse shape. His head lolled to the side as they hoisted and carried his body between them. He got caught in a nasty explosion that led to a fight where Sai and herself had to defend his unconscious body before they could get away.

The village gates appeared through the trees and the two conscious members of Team Echo sighed with relief. They alerted the gate guards to the situation and picked up the pace to the hospital.

As soon as they were near the building, they entered through a back entrance and secretly entered an unoccupied operation room. They maneuvered Yamato onto the table and tore off his mask and vest. Sai closed the curtains in front of the observation window while Sakura prepared herself for surgery.

Time was against them but she still meticulously washed her hands up to the elbows and with Sai's help slipped on a surgical gown and mask. She took a breath to stymy the adrenaline that always preceded an operation and set to work.

Her chakra scalpel pressed into his forehead and the first few beads of blood rolled down Yamato's face. Sakura didn't let it distract her from creating a three-inch incision across his head to expose the skull underneath. Her chakra instantly sealed any of the cut capillaries as it moved and prevented blood loss.

"How does it look?" Sai asked quietly as he stood guard by the door.

Sakura shook her head in the negative. "His brain is swelling. I need to release the pressure before it harms him." She grabbed a cordless drill from the assembled tools off to the side of the operating table.

Sai grimaced when the sound of the metal bit pressed against the bone. Sakura ignored him along with everything else and focused on the amount of pressure she applied to his skull, too much and she could hit the brain.

She felt the bone give seconds later and cerebral fluid bubbled through the hole in his head. She placed the drill off to the side and sent chakra into the wound to soothe the trauma of the soft tissue. Sakura hummed in the relief and moved around the room collecting bandages and assorted intravenous drugs. She wrapped Yamato's head and inserted an IV into his right arm.

"That should do it. Let's move him into a patient room and I'll heal your arm."

Sai quirked his eye brow at her awareness of the injury he tried best to hide.

Once Yamato was comfortably situated in a private room in the upper floors of the hospital, Sakura mended Sai's broken bones then he disappeared to change from his ANBU uniform into something less eye-catching. Sakura did the same and placed her uniform and Yamato's into an orange biohazard bag. No one would check to see what was inside and their covers would remain intact.

She took up vigil next to his bedside and monitored his temperature and heart rate from the chair she pulled up.

Sakura felt his chakra some time later and bowed her head in shame.

Kakashi entered via the window and dropped to the floor inside. He had taken to wearing the Hokage hat with his regular jounin uniform and she watched the tendrils from it slide across the floor to stand in front of Yamato's bed.

"Sai briefed me on the details. As I understand you managed to elude the guards without blowing your cover, got back to Konoha, and treated Yamato's injuries?" He questioned.

"Hai, Hokage-sama." She responded and kept her eyes dutifully on his feet.

"Look at me, Sakura."

She forced her eyes to meet his dark grey ones. Sakura didn't see anger or disappointment in his gaze. He regarded her with a soft, knowing expression that made her heart squeeze in her chest.

She paled and braced her hands against her knees. "We didn't finish the mission. When the explosion went off and Yamato didn't get up, all I could think of was getting him home. I ordered Sai to help me."

Sakura couldn't stand his gaze and went back to staring at the floor.

She felt his hand cover hers and looked up to see Kakashi kneeling in front of her. He had pulled his hat off and placed it beside him, exposing the familiar tendrils of silver hair stuck up in odd angles.

"You did well." He praised warmly and patted her hand reassuringly.

She glanced to their hands and back to his face. The tears started before she could force them down. "I'm sorry, Kakashi."

She didn't deserve his forgiveness or understanding but she had both because Kakashi was the sort to overlook her gross negligence to make her feel better. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and dragged her into a hug.

"You protected your team, that's the most I ask from my shinobi." He spoke softly into her ear.

She wrapped her hands around him and held tight with her hands curled into white-knuckled fists. Sakura let his presence and touch ground her. She spent so much time out of the village on missions with Yamato and Sai, that the only substantial connection to home was him. Kakashi was the last person in the village she saw before going away on a seven-month undercover mission and the first person she saw when she came home.

He was a constant in her life, more so than Naruto or Sasuke and unlike Yamato and Sai she didn't feel the need to protect him. Kakashi always protected her and despite her dominating personality she let him.

Sakura pulled away from his hug and managed a smile for his sake and noticed the dark circles under his eyes. She was sure that the gate guards had shaved off years of his life when they turned up in the middle of the night reporting Team Echo was gravely injured.

"You should get some rest. Doctor's orders."

He gave her an amused smile. "You're one to talk."

"I will once Yamato is in the clear."

"There are other doctors here you know."

"Not as good as me." She responded light-heartedly.

His eyes narrowed. "I could order you as the Hokage."

Sakura called his bluff and goaded him further. "Go ahead, Ka-ka-shi."

"Mah, what should I do about all these insubordinate shinobi?" He wondered aloud and stood from his crouch. Giving up, he headed back towards the window. "Sai, I know Sakura told you it's rude to eavesdrop," he threw over his shoulder before launching himself through the window.

Sakura's head whipped to the entry of the hospital room as a deep blush covered her features. She spotted her teammate's outline in the darkened entryway.

"H-how long have you been there, Sai?"

Sai walked towards her and the hospital bed.

"Long enough to know you have a crush on our esteemed leader." He observed.

Sakura's blush deepened but knew it was useless to refute his claim. She tried a different tactic instead. "Don't you have an Ino-pig to visit now that you're back?"

It was his turn to blush.

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A/N: One of my main things about Sakura, is I think she would continue to build relationships with her teammates. It seems that Yamato and Sai kinda fade into the background when the original Team Seven is together but I like to think Sakura always keeps her 'boys' in sight.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

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Sakura slammed her sake cup on the counter in annoyance, sloshing liquid on to the bar and poor Yamato's lap. "It's just like Naruto to arrange dinner and not show up on time!"

Sai and Yamato turned to each other and shared a side-long glance. Through years of building team dynamics there was very little they needed to say aloud so when Sai closed his eyes slowly and opened them again with a pointed look, it was to urge the older male to intervene. After all it was his turn to calm down the raging temper of their only female teammate.

Yamato sighed under his breath and swivelled in his seat back towards the pink hell-fire. "Now, now, Sakura-chan, I'm sure something pressing is keeping him." Yamato tried to reason with her and gestured for her to calm down.

Sakura snorted loudly, the alcohol already coursing strongly through her veins. "Yea, if sneaking into the Hyuuga compound is considered pressing. As if Hisashi doesn't know or the whole village for that matter!"

"So, this is why I keep getting noise complaints." Kakashi swooped into the seat next to her with all the grace of his shinobi training.

Sakura turned on him with a gasp, "Look! Even Kakashi got here first!" She gestured drunkenly to her teammates, her eyes comically wide with disbelief.

Kakashi traded looks with Yamato and Sai over her shoulder. Not one of the men wanted to deal with a tipsy Sakura. Drunk was one thing because she would be too intoxicated to channel chakra but buzzed meant whoever made sure she got home safe that night was in for bruises.

"They should get married already, and stop sneaking around. Save all of us the headache." Sakura continued in a more subdued tone.

Kakashi noted the somber note in her words and frowned under his mask. "They'll get there eventually. Let them enjoy the journey."

Sakura stared at him for a long moment then turned to Teuchi-san behind the counter. "Another bottle!"

He smiled warmly at her and fetched another bottle of sake. Sakura poured a saucer and placed it in front of Kakashi. He raised an eyebrow. "You're not on the clock." She reminded him.

Sakura poured her own cup and chugged it back and watched keenly from the corner of her eye to see if Kakashi would remove his mask and take a drink.

"Eh, you're all here early!" Naruto's loud voice boomed behind her.

Sakura nearly choked in her anger and spun around. "You Baka! We're not early, you're late!" She threw an unsteady punch at his arm that he absorbed with a wince.

"Hehe, I guess you're right." He ran an embarrassed hand through his blonde hair. In a quieter voice, he leaned over towards Yamato and whispered, "Who let her drink?"

"Technically, your fault." Yamato deadpanned.

Sakura took offense as she overheard his words. "Nobody let me drink, I decided to. Who decided that canoodling with their girlfriend was more important than the dinner they arranged?!"

Naruto turned deep scarlet and inched away from her. Her mounting annoyance and alcohol level spurred the reluctant males into action. Like a well-oiled machine, they fell back into mission roles without missing a beat.

Yamato subtly maneuvered the sake bottle out of her reach. Naruto removed himself from the situation since he was the current aggravator.

And Sai quickly distracted Sakura so Kakashi could get into position.

"What exactly is canoodling?" He innocently asked.

Kakashi stood and answered with every ounce of seriousness, "Well Sai when a man and a woman like each other very much, they sometimes get naked and-"

"Stop!" Sakura lunged at Kakashi to cover his mask, approximately where his mouth would be. She didn't account for her off-kilter balance and all but fell off her stool if he hadn't thrown out a hand to steady her. She glared at him in response and steadied herself on her feet with a huff.

"Pervert! Don't corrupt him with your dirty thoughts." She growled and poked him in the chest with her finger.

He gaze flicked from the tip of her finger up to her eyes. "It's not like any of the assembled here are virgins, Sakura. Yourself included." He responded flatly.

All the members of the previously assembled Team Kakashi blushed at the Hokage's words and looked back and forth at each other. Sakura noticed that the cup of sake she poured for him was empty. He managed to sneak a drink with her back turned and it explained the blush barely visible over the edge of his mask.

"I-I, y…you, ugh all of you!" Sakura sputtered. "My INNOCENT ears! I'm going home first." She yelled and stomped out of Ichiraku without looking back.

The remaining four looked at each other.

Naruto was quickest and pressed his forefinger to his nose. "Not it."

Sai and Yamato did the same at lightning speed. They turned expectantly towards Kakashi who was the last to dibs out.

"But I'm Hokage." He whined.

"You know the rules, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto argued and kept a finger stubbornly against his nose. Yamato and Sai nodded vigorously in response with their fingers also glued to their faces.

Kakashi sighed heavily and reluctantly stood. "I should hang out with different people." He muttered and left the ramen shop to make sure Sakura got home safe.

-X-

Sakura walked through the village with the warm feel of alcohol in her stomach. Her chakra swirled lazily at her core in response to the colder weather. Winter had descended quickly with almost no warning this year. She was content to take the long way home and enjoy the cooler night air against her heated cheeks.

She walked along the outer perimeter of the village and took deep breaths then puffed them out to see the white wisps of air. When she reached the line of benches on the eastern side closest to her apartment it began to snow. She looked up delightedly as the first snowflakes landed on her face and grinned at the sky.

She held out her hand to catch a few stray flakes and watched as they melted into her skin. When she looked up, she wasn't alone.

"Sasuke." She breathed his name in surprise.

Nearly three and a half years ago she made the decision to join Team Echo and that was right around the time Sasuke left the village again.

The circumstances around his departure the second time were considerably better than the first. He didn't leave a traitor but a hero of the village in search of an important lost emotion. Like his brother had done half a decade before him, Sasuke threw himself into missions, reporting on the movements of groups taking advantage of the instability after the war.

She hadn't been there to see him leave, she was already out on her first mission with Yamato and Sai and wouldn't hear about his departure until their return three months later.

"Hello, Sakura." He greeted.

Sakura took several steps towards him and burned away the alcohol in her system. When they were no more than a metre apart she stopped.

"Are you back now?"

"I am."

Sakura smiled. "Naruto will be happy, he missed you."

"Are you happy?"

Sakura was monetarily taken aback by his question. She was immediately affronted by his assumption but the last three years curbed her impulsive responses and forced her to consider Sasuke differently.

He wasn't mocking her with his question or assuming anything about her feelings. Instead, his shoulders were squared, like he was preparing for battle, and his eyes held hers hesitantly.

She smiled then and knew she could finally have that long-avoided conversation with him. "I'm happy you're back. Being around the people who love you will do you good."

Sasuke continued to hold her gaze and registered the honesty lighting up her eyes. He first saw her as powerful during the war, then compassionate for her ability to save lives amidst the taking of them, and finally he saw her as beautiful. A vibrant woman far too good for him and his misdeeds.

He recognized he had absolutely zero claims on her affections.

Sakura was no longer in love with him.

For both their sakes he said it out loud.

Sakura blinked at his abrupt statement and an amused smile pulled at her lips. "I forgave you during the war but I can't forget everything that happened."

She didn't pull punches. They needed to say all the things that had transpired between them. The festering resentments wouldn't heal unless they were out in the open. Sasuke didn't flinch or admonish her. He matched her wry smile with his own.

"Still annoying. But you have a good point." He retorted.

She punched him on the shoulder in retaliation and earned a grunt in pain. "Idiot. I'm not saying I won't be your friend. You're my teammate and I care about you."

He smirked. "And if I refuse?"

"I'll beat you into submission." She growled and shook a menacing fist at him. The tension rolled away from them both and Sakura's mock anger turned into a chuckle.

Sasuke basked in her levity and found a larger smile tug at his lips. Out of curiosity he prodded. "There's someone else?"

Sakura shook her head. "No, not exactly. There's the idea of someone else or maybe the type of person I'm looking for."

"Has your taste in men improved?"

She glared and reconsidered beating him however briefly. With a deep breath, Sakura stretched her arms towards the sky and once more enjoyed the sight of falling snow. "Naruto and the team are at Ichiraku, go and say hi."

She sidestepped around him and pushed him forward when he didn't move. Sasuke turned around and Sakura stuck her tongue out at him. "See you around, Sasuke-kun." She sing-songed and continued home.

He watched her until she turned the corner at the other end of the trail. He smiled to himself and continued in the opposite direction with ramen on his mind.

Sakura walked the rest of the way home with a skip in her step. She came up to her building and spotted a familiar profile leaning against the side wall smoking a cigarette.

"I thought I told you to cut down." Sakura admonished sharply.

Genma looked up and smiled rakishly. "It's just nice to know you're thinking of me, Sakura-chan."

She may or may not have had a small, tiny, fling with the senbon chewing ninja. It wasn't serious or anything and they had not repeated the act since but that didn't stop Genma from flirting every chance he got.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Please tell me you're working and not stalking my home."

He dropped his smoke to the ground and snubbed it out with his sandal. "I was working, until the Hokage gave me the slip. I figure he'll turn up here sooner or later."

"Why would he come here?"

"Hmmm, I wonder." He replied sarcastically.

Not in the mood to decipher subtext, Sakura sighed and headed towards the stairs. "You better clean up those butts, Shiranui."

"Hai, Sakura-sensei." He called back and lit another cigarette.

With Genma's presence outside, Sakura was not surprised to find the Hokage sitting in her living room when she entered her home. As one of Kakashi's ANBU guards, Genma went wherever he did and was probably aware of as many secrets as the Hokage.

Without acknowledging her intruder, Sakura removed her shoes, placed her keys on the table near the door, and switched on one of the lamps in the living room. She nodded at him and took the seat next to him on the couch.

Sakura comfortably situated herself against the armrest and stretched her legs over his lap. Her teammates all doubled as convenient furniture when needed much to their annoyance.

She closed her eyes and relaxed into the cushions. "Sasuke's back." She reported.

"Mmhm."

She opened one eye to view his masked face. "He looks good. More at peace than I've ever seen him before."

Kakashi turned his head towards her and the soft glow from the light cast his outline across the room. "He's come a long way from the boy with a thousand demons on his back."

He had. From a genin to the man he was today, it was remarkable transition. He was hurt along the way and had hurt too. Yet, the Sasuke that she saw on the road today didn't cave in his shoulders or avoid her gaze. That was a person ready to make up for the past. The least she could do was give him a second chance as a teammate and a friend.

"One day he won't have to hide behind a mask of indifference." She met his gaze unflinchingly. "Maybe one day you won't either."

The air between them stilled and Kakashi's grey eyes were unreadable. "One day," he said slowly, "but not today."

Sakura didn't press. Like all her boys, she would slowly peel back Kakashi's layers. The fact that he didn't admonish her was a win. She pulled the blanket from the back of the couch and draped it over her body. She yawned and closed her eyes. "Don't keep Genma waiting all night." She sleepily mumbled.

Kakashi gently lifted her feet from his lap and placed them on the couch. He moved closer and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"Good night, Haruno." Kakashi whispered.

He went to the door and quietly shut it behind him. Sakura covered her heated face with her hands and groaned.

"Stupid Sakura, stupid feelings." She grumbled to herself.

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A/N: Not sure if it is common knowledge, but in Japanese sensei is also what they call doctors. So the boys are essentially acknowledging her position when they add sensei to Sakura's name.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

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Sakura wasn't exactly sure how she got roped into accompanying the Hokage on a diplomatic mission to Suna. Usually Naruto, as the hopeful incumbent to the position, joined Kakashi on any trips abroad. But for one reason or another Sakura had been volun-told for the position.

Not only was she assigned as Kakashi's guard detail, she was the only shinobi assigned. No Genma or one of her teammates to entertain her, she was going it alone under the unforgiving sun. The other unfortunate result of her solo guardianship was zero male buffer from the many young, shinobi who hit on her.

Sakura had become a bit of a legend because of the war but her status as a female downplayed her contributions while simultaneously inviting half the shinobi population to ask her out. They considered her a worthy a target to bed and didn't realize how dangerous she was when aggravated.

Sakura bowed in apology to Gaara outside the Suna hospital.

"I apologize for my subordinate's actions." Kakashi managed to say with a straight face. He was deeply amused by the two men Sakura had hospitalized after their aggressive advances. Three broken ribs and a cracked shoulder later.

Gaara was not happy but couldn't blame Sakura for her violent response towards his unquestionably dishonorable men. "Fractures are better than breaks in the future, Haruno. I can't afford for you to handicap all my able-bodied men."

Sakura straightened and beamed at Gaara. "Hai, Kazekage-sama!"

She smacked Kakashi on the arm and glared when his attempts to hold in his laughter failed. "Shut it." She warned.

Gaara hid his eye roll and straightened his robes. "We still have documents to go over and sign, Hokage-sama."

Kakashi grimaced. He hated signing paperwork almost as much as he hated creating paperwork. Sakura took pity on him just a little. She may have been forced to come but Kakashi was required to attend. They were only three days into a seven-day stint in Suna culminating in the annual Chunin exam.

"Where is your nearest training ground?" Sakura asked Gaara.

"Half a kilometer west of here. But they are currently being used by the visiting genin teams." He replied automatically.

"I'm sure they'll make an exception for you, Gaara-kun." She teased.

Both Kages looked at her skeptically. "What do you have in mind, Sakura?" Kakashi asked uneasily.

Sakura didn't answer right away. She pulled the gloves from her weapons pouch and tied up her shoulder length hair into a tight ponytail. She shot Gaara a challenging smirk. "Before I left Naruto told me and I quote 'Make sure to challenge Gaara to a spar. He's getting lazy in his office.'"

The Kazekage had the decency to look offended before the blaze in his eyes won out. "That can be arranged."

-X-

Her chakra laden fist collided with the sand shield, reducing the solid wall into its granules. She eyed Gaara from behind the disintegrating shield and raced forward to aim a foot at his side. He twisted out of the way and jumped back to put distance between them.

Sakura buzzed with adrenaline and exhilaration. Beads of sweat rolled down her neck and her skin would surely have a sun burn by the end of the day but there was nothing better than facing someone who knew she was incredibly dangerous and would keep her on her toes.

The right arm she fractured earlier dangled uselessly at his side. He had managed to cut her between the shoulder blades with a kunai after using her momentary victory to his advantage.

Gaara was panting harshly from their spar but couldn't keep the smile from his face. He was getting rusty. No one, save his siblings, would fight him. The Suna shinobi force feared him and could never think to lift a hand against him even in friendly challenge. He missed the unknown.

"Tired yet, Gaara-kun?" Sakura called. They dropped formalities with the first thrown shuriken.

"Not remotely." He responded.

Sakura wiped the sweat from her forehead and noticed they were gathering quite a crowd. Kakashi was safely lounging under one of the few artificial trees in Suna watching the match. The rest of the onlookers consisted of various genin teams from the different nations and Sand-nin milling about the village.

They would need to finish up soon or people would start to think the leader of Suna had too much time on his hands. That would reflect poorly on the Hokage as well.

Sakura darted forward with chakra enhanced feet to keep from sliding on the sand. Gaara threw up another sand shield to buy time. She planned for as much. Her hands moved like lightning to complete the sequence of hand signs.

She arched back and punched once more through his sand with her fist. She charged him and he attempted to retreat but couldn't move. Gaara looked down and saw two hands piercing through the sand clasping his ankles.

He cursed.

The real Sakura barreled into him and they both fell hard to the ground. Sakura landed on Gaara, straddling his waist and managed to brace herself with her hands on either side of his head.

Instinctively, his hands came up to her hips to steady her.

"Gotcha." Sakura declared.

His eyes shined with amusement. "When did you learn Hatake's jutsu?"

"Years ago. Has come in handy several times. Do you concede?" She pressed a chakra scalpel to his throat and waited.

"I concede." He said in defeat. "Do you mind?" He indicated her legs on either side of his hips.

Sakura's lips morphed into a slow smile. "Why, are you uncomfortable?"

He looked at her without a trace of unease and a little softness. "No."

She started to shake and then the first tiny laugh escaped and soon she was bowled over with laughter, falling on to the sand beside him. Gaara let out his own chuckle. Sakura stood up and offered him a hand.

He graciously accepted and she hauled him to his feet. They both shook the sand loose from their clothing. Sakura reached for his arm and healed the bone with glowing hands.

An aide nervously approached the pair. "Kazekage-sama, you're late for a meeting." The man said meekly to the ground. Gaara nodded sharply.

"Tell Naruto what transpired here."

She nodded and patted some of the lingering dust from her ANBU uniform. "I will. No one will doubt your scariness for at least a decade." Sakura promised and waved goodbye.

Gaara was quickly swallowed by the mass of people waiting on him. She was sure he had never arrived late to a meeting in his career, so unlike her leader. Her grin grew at that thought and Kakashi popped up next to her.

"Having fun?" He mused.

Sakura glanced at him and flushed. "Not a bad way to spend a babysitting mission anyways."

Kakashi knew she was annoyed with him for assigning her as his protective detail and he was purposefully avoided her questions about why he chose her this time instead of his usual ANBU guard.

He did what he always did and redirected the conversation. "Let's go clean your cut."

She frowned at his obvious change of subject but nodded. Sakura followed a respectable distance behind Kakashi back to their accommodations. He led them to his quarters and closed the door behind them.

"Shirt." He ordered and disappeared into the bathroom.

Sakura glared at his tone but striped down to her chest bindings to allow better access to the cut between her shoulder blades. Kakashi rejoined her with a first aid kit in his hand. He gestured to the bed and she sat down with her back facing him.

He pulled out a bottle of peroxide and doused a cloth. "This will sting." He warned and carefully dabbed the loose grains of sand out of her wound.

Sakura winced and tried to distract herself by reciting the shinobi rule book in her head until Kakashi cleared his throat. She waited for him to speak.

He did not disappoint. "I didn't realize you were involved with the Kazekage."

"He was my first." Sakura didn't bother denying it.

"After the war?"

"Mhm."

She wasn't the only person to have relations following the war. In fact, a significant number of babies born nine months later were proof that life followed on the heels of death. Sakura had been confused and lonely once the fires died down. She had lost friends and patients and for a while it felt like she lost Naruto too. He practically buzzed around Sasuke in the weeks after. Without the lingering threat of death, she couldn't fake her happiness about Sasuke's return.

She turned to a kindred spirit of sorts and sought out Gaara. She trusted him and that was the most important in the moment. Sakura wanted something gentle, to temper the rage that fuelled the fighting. Gaara was kind and considerate and sleeping with him didn't dramatically change their dynamic.

As first times went it was remarkably warm and she never regretted it.

Kakashi finished cleaning the wound and worked on bandaging it. Silence stretched between them until Sakura couldn't stand it anymore.

"Why did you want me to come to Suna with you?"

Kakashi didn't bother lying to her. She would know eventually. "To observe you."

He finished with the bandage and turned away so she could pull her shirt on. He sighed. "Yamato and Sai are concerned. So is Naruto and Sasuke and a few other people who have spoken to me."

Sakura's mouth fell open in shock as she finally turned to face him. "Why?"

His gaze was unreadable. "They say you work too much. On missions, Yamato and Sai report that you take extra watches and volunteer as bait."

"That's because I have less to lose if something goes south. I don't have someone waiting back home. And I take extra watches because I'm an insomniac." She reasoned.

Kakashi turned on her with a serious expression. "That's Naruto's and Sasuke's complaint. They worry that you don't date or have relationships or anything outside of missions."

Sakura jumped up from the bed and walked over to the desk across the room. She was not liking where the conversation was headed. "That's none of their business."

He also stood and continued, "When you're not on missions you're training genin in the academy or helping at the hospital. It's only a matter of time before you burn out or make a mistake in the field."

Sakura snorted derisively. "All that you're describing sounds a lot like you Hokage-sama." She headed for the door before her patience wore down. "If you'll excuse me."

He grabbed her arm to keep her from leaving. "Wait, Sakura. I'm also worried about you."

"Just because other kunoichi settle down doesn't mean there is something wrong with me. Do you chastise Sasuke or Genma?" She angrily shook him off. "Your concern is not welcome." She bit out.

Sakura stalked out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

For the next four days, Sakura seethed. She was pissed off but was required to escort Kakashi everywhere and she took her job seriously. Apparently, her team had some problem with that. She spent that time dutifully ignoring him and glaring at everyone who came close. It did wonders to dissuade the male population.

The Chunin exam couldn't come soon enough and Sakura found herself standing behind Kakashi and the other Kages as they watched the Finals from the center balcony.

She watched the kids fight back and forth and smiled despite herself when she saw one genin from Konoha try to replicate Naruto's rasengan. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Gaara motioning her over.

She discreetly backed away from Kakashi and walked over to him. Kankuro nodded once and stepped back so she could kneel at the side of Gaara's chair.

He leaned over to whisper, "Is everything alright?" The wide brim of the Kage hat he wore obscured both their faces and she appreciated the small amount of privacy.

Her expression soured. "It's nothing. Just have a long list of men to kill when I get home."

"Ah. Good." He responded with a small smile.

Sakura found herself grinning in response. "I should get back."

She braced her hand on his armrest before standing and returning to her post behind Kakashi. He turned around in his chair to stare at her and she quickly resumed her simmering annoyance and purposefully ignored his questioning gaze.

She focused back on the match.

The genin match had come to a head and without warning one of the boys produced a sword and stabbed the other boy in the stomach then disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

A confused and scared audience jumped to their feet just as the multitude of shinobi flashed into the ring. Sakura felt her heart pound in her chest and the fine hairs on her arms rose.

Since her very first bell test she would never forget the signs of genjustu no matter how carefully crafted. She raised her hands and made the symbol for release.

"Kai."

Sakura looked around suspiciously and spotted the assailant on the side wall of the Kage's seating canopy. She didn't hesitate and lunged forward just as the enemy ran towards an unaware Kakashi.

Kunai clashed against kunai and she met the eyes of the assassin. He growled at her interference. Sakura sent a blast of chakra into the surrounding area, breaking the Kages and guards out of the genjustu.

"An assassination at a Chunin exam? How unoriginal." She growled in annoyance.

The shinobi smiled knowingly at her.

He tore off his jacket to expose dozens of paper bombs stuck to his person. Sakura's eyes widened and she was jerked back by the vest right as the explosion went off.

Her heart beat wildly in her chest and her ears wrung with the force of the blast. One eardrum was ruptured and she coughed past an ache in her chest from her organs slamming against her ribs. Sakura forced her eyes open and saw a shock of silver hair.

Slabs of cement that were once the ceiling had landed around them, cutting them off from the rest of the balcony. She could hear the screaming and cries to help coming from the audience stands but her attention was solely on the man above her.

She placed hands on either side of his face. "Kakashi?" She brokenly called.

When he didn't stir, Sakura carefully slid out from under him and assessed the damage. A piece of rebar from the stone jutted out and impacted his lower abdomen close to the spine. She swore at the position of the metal rod and the difficulty she would have removing it.

She pressed a green hand to his back and mapped out the internal damage. The rod had nicked an artery but the pressure was keeping him from bleeding out. With limited space to work, she quickly ruled out using her summons. It was up to her alone to save him.

"Idiot. Stupid, stupid bloody Hokage." She cursed loudly and didn't care who heard.

If he hadn't shielded her with his body he wouldn't be hurt. She was there to protect him, not the other way around.

From her weapon's pouch, she pulled out an emergency supply of narcotics and a rubber tourniquet. "Administer sedatives, cut the rod, stabilize the wound, and don't even think about letting him die." She recited to herself.

Sakura worked fast to tie off his arm and inject the sedative. She made a chakra scalpel and cut through the rod in two places. With a firm hand, she worked away the metal without jostling the piece still imbedded in him.

When it was free she chucked the thing behind her and tore a strip of fabric from his jacket. She took a shaky breath and apologized for the damage she was about to do. Sakura wrapped a hand around the bar and placed the other as a brace against his stomach. She counted to three and pulled.

The rebar came free and pulled some questionable bodily chunks out with it. She grimaced and watched the blood start pouring free from the wound. Sakura pressed both hands to the cavity and channeled her chakra.

"You'll be fine. You'll be fine. You'll be fine." She repeated like a mantra and the first tears splashed against his side as she hovered above him and her chakra wavered. There was a reason she wasn't supposed to work on people she knew.

His blood coated her hands and lap. She was saturated in the sticky substance but forced herself to focus on the wound and not the person. With a steadying breath, her chakra resumed its steady flow.

The rocks above her started shaking and more debris and dust shook loose. Sakura threw herself over Kakashi as the fallen ceiling was pulled back.

"Sakura, are you okay?"

She looked up and saw Kankuro's face and a dozen other Sand shinobi. "He needs to be moved to the hospital!" She called.

The next few hours passed in a blur as Kakashi was rushed into surgery. Sakura stubbornly stayed by his side and refused to let any of the Suna medics tend to the substantial injury. She allowed them to monitor vitals and sterilize the wound while her chakra repaired the damaged tissue.

They assisted until one nurse attempted to remove Kakashi's mask to attach an oxygen mask. After that, Sakura ordered they all leave until it was once again just him and her. By that time, the bleeding had stopped and Kakashi was in measurably better condition. Once he was stabilized she had him moved to the ICU for recovery.

Gaara came to check in and report what he and his shinobi had uncovered about the suicide bomber. The man, a skilled genjustu user, was on the Allied side during the war and lost a brother who was in Kakashi's division and blamed him for his brother's death.

Sakura understood the impulse for revenge but in the end the war had claimed enough lives without the man sacrificing himself and adding to the body count.

She thanked Gaara for the information and requested he let her tend to the Hokage for as long as he was in the hospital.

Sakura showered and changed into clothes not saturated with blood before checking on him. The Hokage was sleeping off the drugs, peacefully unaware, when she arrived and checked his vitals.

His mask was stubbornly in place and his chest was wrapped in white bandages. Sakura leaned over and brushed the hair out of his closed eyes and watched his steady breathing. Her hand shifted down and held his.

Sometime in the last six years she forgot that he wasn't immune from the world. Stuck in the village most of the time and specifically in his tower, Sakura thought he was safe. Her naiveté had weakened her reaction time. Then there was her anger with him that distracted her from sensing the genjustu as soon as it was cast. Her inability to keep her emotions in check when it involved him had nearly cost his life.

Her thumb grazed over his knuckles.

"I love you." She confessed softly. "I thought it was a crush and with time I would get over it. But it's not. And I'm sorry because I know it's not something you wanted but if I don't say it out loud I can't move on." She squeezed his hand.

"I'm awake." His deep, sleepy voice stated neutrally.

She chuckled humourlessly, "I know."

His eyes opened and focused on their joined hands before moving to her face.

"Since when?" He asked and Sakura knew he wasn't talking about being conscious. His hand pulled away from her and her stomach dropped.

"Years? I'm not sure. It was not at all, then all at once." She didn't flinch away when his eyes narrowed distrustfully at her words.

If there was anyone who could tell she was lying when saying 'I love you' it was him. She had once lied about her feelings when Naruto went to try to bring back Sasuke and all she wanted was to waylay the inevitable disappointment. Kakashi had seen through her then, so had Naruto. Sakura wore her heart on her sleeve but she liked to think over the years she got better at protecting it.

Her feelings were the reason she was angry with him for approaching her about her team's concerns. The reason she didn't date or have relationships was because of him, her Hokage. It was the reason she was a workaholic because taking more missions meant seeing less of the man that made her heart race and her stomach flip. Not that it mattered because as soon as she saw him sitting behind his desk waiting for her report, the pressing love she felt was nearly suffocating.

His eyes softened when he realized she was telling the truth. "Why me?"

She fought the blush that threatened to consume her face. "If you're asking if it was something you did, it wasn't. Not exactly. All the excuses you used when you were late, how in a moment of need you became the Hokage, how we stood shoulder-to-shoulder on the battlefield facing the enemy. When I think about those moments, my heart feels like it's about to burst."

Sakura met his gaze with one of determination. "I compromised your safety because of these feelings and I won't let that happen again. After today, I will never bring it up, so do me a favour and forget I mentioned it?" She asked with a wry smile.

Kakashi reached across the bed and grabbed her hand again. "Thank you, Sakura." His eyes crinkled warmly. "For saving my life."

"Anytime, Hokage-sama."

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A/N: What can I say, I totally believe Sakura and Gaara could have a fling. They would respect and trust one another and it would be an important part of development for Sakura.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

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-X-

Sakura watched Naruto and Hinata move on the dance floor. They were the talk of the town and sure enough, almost half the village had turned up to the reception. Hinata was stunning in her modest silk gown and Naruto positively glowed with happiness.

Their courtship had been along awkward affair with Sakura spending more than a few nights listening to Naruto dither about his actions and feelings. They figured it out in the end and her chest warmed with happiness watching her teammate sway lovingly with his new wife.

Peals of laughter pulled her attention away from the couple and she turned in her seat to spy a small group of women surrounding the Hokage. One of the women leaned suggestively towards his side and giggled behind her hand whenever he spoke, another lightly touched his forearm with a smile on her face.

Her teeth ground together in annoyance.

Since she confessed to him in a Suna hospital, Sakura found herself unburdened by the secret and could enjoy life more freely. She continued to take ANBU missions with Yamato and Sai and train young genin in the medical arts but she also went out to the bar with friends and entertained a few of the men that propositioned her.

Unfortunately, despite the improvements in her personal life, she was still hopelessly in love with Kakashi. Every time she saw him she reminded herself to be content with it. For his part, there was no awkwardness and she saw to it that she never put in him an uncomfortable position by bringing up her confession. It was the greatest cover she had ever undertaken and she commended herself for keeping true to her promise.

Tonight, however, Kakashi was trying her patience. She glared at the group and forced herself to turn around and ignore the obvious flirtations.

Her mood worsened when Sasuke took the empty seat next to her.

"He's the one isn't he."

"Hmm?" She responded distractedly.

"That earned your love." Sakura's eyes widened comically and he smirked. "Shall we test it?"

His onyx eyes were bright with mischief and Sakura would be lying if she didn't think him devastatingly handsome at that moment. But she stuck to her guns and pretended to be oblivious.

"What do you mean?"

"Consider this an intervention on behalf of the team."

"Wha-"

Sakura looked around and caught Sai and Yamato watching her through the crowd. Sai was conveniently stationed next to the main entrance of the hall with Ino at his side who busily chatted with Shikamaru and Temari. The only exit was covered while Yamato was awkwardly standing guard near the women's restroom, her only other plausible escape route. But his attention flitted from her to the pretty caterer across the room.

When she met their eyes, they immediately looked away. Sakura leveled a glare at Sasuke. "You planned this." She accused.

"For the betterment of the village. If Kakashi sends anymore of the men you date on long-term missions, there won't be a Shinobi corps."

"He doesn't do that!" She insisted.

"No," Sasuke deadpanned, "all of your suitors' volunteer for the worst placements on their own."

She scoffed. "Whatever. I already told him how I feel and he brushed it off. I'm not about to try a second time." She folded her arms defensively across her chest.

"We know." Sasuke hooked his foot around her chair and pulled her towards him much to her surprise. "This intervention is for him."

He placed his larger hand on top of hers on the table for the world to see.

"You're not serious?" She blinked owlishly.

"Hn."

When his other hand went to her knee, Sakura couldn't stifle her smile. It was so ridiculous, it was funny. The men on her teams had sat down at some point and planned a seduction mission. The thought of the three most introverted people in the village discussing her love life was hilarious. Normally she would be peeved but she could only muster amusement for their bizarre thoughtfulness. The least she could do was play along and prove the Hokage wasn't interested.

Sasuke rubbed his thumb against her thigh and she raised a questioning eyebrow. "Has to seem real." He explained and she knew he was enjoying himself. Into her ear, he whispered, "In three seconds he's going to excuse himself and come over here."

Sakura watched the reflection from the hitai-ate on Sasuke's shoulder and sure enough Kakashi was discreetly moving away from the assembled group of women. Her eyes widened with disbelief when he started walking towards them.

"Ten paces." Sasuke commented then pulled away far enough to meet her deer-in-the-headlights expression.

She laughed nervously. "He's probably just tired of the company."

"Eight. Don't be stupid." He chastised.

Sakura punched him lightly in the arm for his comment.

"Five."

"You're wrong." She said breathlessly and cursed the butterflies in her stomach.

"Four...Three...two…"

The menacing aura that descended on them would scare lesser shinobi but they were his teammates and they didn't intimidate easily when the Hokage walked up between them.

"Kakashi." Sasuke greeted pleasantly. His hand was indecently high on her thigh over the red satin of her dress and leaned possessively over her.

"Evening, Sasuke-kun, Sakura." Kakashi replied genially but they both noticed the dangerous flash in his grey eyes. Sakura mumbled out a good evening.

Sasuke smirked and pulled away from her to stand toe to toe with his former sensei. "Can we help you?"

Sakura had witnessed two alphas face off in worse places and times but the current animosity between the two was unmistakable. Sasuke was preening with intent and seemed to ask for Kakashi to challenge him. If she didn't know better she would think he was seriously defending her as his mate.

Kakashi must have come to some conclusion because his entire aura changed in a heartbeat and he ran a lazy hand through his silver hair. His slouch became more pronounced and his entire body relaxed.

He smiled and crinkled his eyes good-naturedly. "I needed an excuse to get away from those women. I said I had to go dance with my partner, so, what do you say, Sasuke-kun? Dance with me?" Kakashi batted his eyelashes and Sakura burst out in laughter.

She could see the tremor of pure revulsion move through Sasuke. The raven-haired man didn't bother to respond and stalked off before Kakashi could act on his words.

Sakura was still trying to catch her breath when a hand appeared in front of her. Kakashi's eyes had the faintest traces of mirth mixed with his cool gaze. "I promise not to embarrass you."

Sakura took his hand and they walked onto the dance floor. Kakashi placed a hand on her waist and pulled her close. A new song started and they danced amongst the sea of couples.

"Did you really dislike those women or were you just trying to mess with Sasuke?" She queried lightly.

He shuddered. "They were trying to set me up with their daughters."

"Poor Hokage-sama. As the most eligible bachelor in the village you should be used to fending off the matchmakers, the mothers, and the singletons." She mocked him without pity.

Kakashi smirked, "I'm not the only one with adoring fans. Sai and Yamato routinely mention the amount of men who approach you on missions."

"Remind me to show up the next time my teammates have a meeting with you to complain about me." She sighed.

"It's not their fault."

"It's not mine either." Sakura grumbled under her breath.

"No, but you are aware that your looks do things to the opposite sex."

A faint blush coloured her cheeks and she had to look away from him. "Y-you too." She retorted pathetically. In the traditional Hokage robes, Kakashi was unfairly tempting to the eyes. His aloofness was alluring before he started walking around with another quarter of his face on display. It was no wonder he was garnering more female attention and even the occasional male's tonight.

Her palms were starting to sweat under his increasing scrutiny so she sought distraction in the crowd and spotted the newly wedded couple. "Beat the bad guy and got the girl. Naruto's a real-life hero." She spoke softly. "I used to worry about reaching his level but now I'm just grateful to have been a part of his journey."

Kakashi followed her line of sight to the husband and wife posing for photos with Kurenai, Shino, and Kiba. Naruto was predictably upbeat and grinning from ear to ear.

He hummed his agreement. "He'll be Hokage soon."

"Really?" She returned excitedly.

Kakashi nodded. "I want to wait until he starts a family. Give him a few years of freedom before passing on the title."

Sakura agreed with him. Naruto deserved to live a quiet life before he started the next and final phase of his shinobi career. He would miss taking missions once he was stuck in the village so it was best to get him out as much as possible before then.

"I have a proposition for you." Kakashi began. She tried to determine if she should be excited or suspicious. "When Naruto turns twenty-five, I'll step down and I would like your help with the transition."

"How so?"

Kakashi smiled, "Two years as my assistant and two years with Naruto when he's Nanadaime. You would still be eligible for missions and it would prepare you for hospital director afterwards."

Her mouth fell open.

It was the appointment of a lifetime and would pave her career for decades. She loved working with in ANBU but she couldn't do it forever and she wanted to dedicate more time to training the genin and improving the hospital long term.

Then there was a greater issue to contend with and hit a lot closer to home than job aspirations. She laughed at the people who said absence makes the heart grow fonder because she knew when you truly loved someone, whether they were close by or far away your heart still skipped a beat whenever you thought of them.

He was offering it to her like it wasn't a big deal.

"Can I think about it?" She asked.

Kakashi was caught off guard but agreed nonetheless.

Sakura watched the other couples, the proper couples, dancing around them with envy. It seemed easy when everyone else could make a relationship work. Sai was already in a committed relationship and Naruto, her knuckle-headed teammate, was a husband now.

She did a sidelong assessment of Kakashi. Maybe it had more to do with her choice in men than her ineptitude at romance.

"Ne, Kakashi, do you ever get lonely?" She asked softly.

"Why do you ask?" He replied, matching her lower tone.

Sakura hid her frown against his shoulder and leaned into his chest. "No reason."

Tsunade once confided in her that the worst nights of her life were at weddings. There was nothing more painful than seeing a room full of people celebrating love when your own life was in shambles. Sakura didn't understand what she meant until tonight.

She didn't comment when his arm tightened protectively against her and silently thanked him for not trying to pry.

Maybe Sasuke was right about Kakashi. Maybe he was wrong. It didn't matter because a long time ago she promised herself not to chase after the object of her affections.

She deserved to be pursued.

The song finished and Sakura was about to say the words that would excuse her early from the rest of the reception when a deep masculine voice broke the silence.

"Kakashi-sensei, can I step in?"

Sakura looked up and smiled at her newly wedded teammate.

"Not at all." Kakashi responded and dropped his hands from her waist for Naruto to take his place.

Before Sakura could miss the warmth on the small of her back, Naruto was wrapping her in his long sturdy arms and beckoning her forward with his head. They began a very amusing waltz as Naruto clumsily led them around the dance floor.

She was giggling and smiling at his attempts to keep his form and not step on her feet. The pure look of concentration on his face rivalled the day he fought Madara.

Pityingly, she stated, "Relax Naruto, you've improved a lot since I last saw you dance."

He looked at her and breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Sakura-chan. Yamato-sensei's been teaching me in between missions."

"What?!" She asked in disbelief. His embarrassed blush was answer enough. "I wish I had been there." She sighed regretfully.

"You've been pretty busy yourself. I'm glad you could come today." His lop-sided smile was sincere and pulled at all those heartstrings inside her.

A wave of guilt quickly followed. She was so focused on moving on around or at least pretending to, she forgot to worry about her team in the process. The fact that Naruto ever doubted she wouldn't make it to his wedding doubled the feeling.

Sakura bit the inside of her cheek to keep away the first sting of tears and apologized. "I'm sorry Naruto, I should have done more."

"Hey, hey, it's okay!" He quickly amended. "I didn't mean it that way! And anyways Sasuke and Sai were arguing so much I kinda forgot to check in with you."

She dropped his hand to brush away her tears and smiled for his benefit. "Baka, we're adults and you're married now!" She took a deep breath and continued in a softer voice. "I'll be calling you Hokage-sama soon and looking to you for guidance. You don't need to worry about me."

Naruto stopped and pulled her in for a bruising hug. In her ear, he said warmly, "I know it was difficult taking care of all of us and we never say it out loud. But it meant everything, especially to me. Sakura, thank you for being my teammate."

Her eyes filled with tears at his sincere tone and she gave up brushing them away. All she could do was hug him back.

"Thank you for being my best friend." She whispered into his shoulder.

They pulled back and saw the tears in each other eyes and started to laugh.

Sakura waved her hands to dry her face and accused him of ruining her make up. Naruto bashfully apologized and used the conveniently timed approach of Sai to deflect the conversation.

She reveled in the lightheartedness of the ensuing argument and ditched any thought of leaving early.

There was no way she would look back on tonight with sadness and as each of their teammates gravitated towards them on the dance floor she gave up feeling sorry for herself.

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A/N: I love Sasuke in this, as I think he would have sort of a roguish personality among the team after the war. Also, the idea of Sai, Yamato, and Sasuke having secret gab fests about Sakura's love life is too perfect in my view of them.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

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-X-

She banged her head on the counter and narrowly missed the hot bowl of ramen in front of her. "Ugggggh! Who the hell made him Hokage anyways?" She growled.

Yamato patted her sympathetically on the shoulder. "It can't be that bad."

She tilted her head to the side to glare at him. "He set up a smoke bomb in his office and escaped out the window to play with Bull's puppies in the park. The daimyo was visiting!" She nearly shrieked.

"Perhaps restraining the Hokage would prove more effective." Sai butted in from the stool next to Yamato.

Sakura sat back up and pulled apart her chopsticks. "If I didn't think he would enjoy that I would've already."

Yamato eyes widened at her words. He blushed and coughed awkwardly into his hand. They turned to their meals and ate quietly.

Sakura wasn't used to being a third wheel to her team. Agreeing to become Kakashi's assistant meant forgoing any extended missions. The worst part was giving Team Echo the scroll that sent them on their first mission without her.

"How did it go?" She asked them between bites.

Sai smiled his fake smile. "Surprisingly well. We didn't have to pay any inn owners for damages to their establishment without you on the team."

Yamato choked on his ramen and tried to backtrack. "He means we finished without any issues...And of course, missed your presence."

"That's not what I meant." Sai corrected. Yamato paled and tried to cover Sai's mouth before he said anything more.

Sakura's eye twitched and she balled her hand into a fist. The blue of her chakra reflected in her green eyes.

"Sakura," A deep voice rumbled in warning, "I thought we agreed not to hit Sai anymore."

She froze and turned around with a guilty smile. "Hehe, hi Hokage-sama."

Kakashi leaned against the counter and watched her through narrowed eyes. "I thought my ears were burning and it turns out my favourite former student was bad-mouthing me."

Sakura scoffed, "As if that's a new thing and anyways turnabout is fair play."

"Stop giving Sakura a hard time, Kakashi-sempai." Yamato looked at him with his scary no-nonsense face and gravely reached out with his hand.

Kakashi stepped out of the way and Yamato committed to his bit and fell dramatically to the ground. The Hokage stepped over his body and took the seat between Sakura and Sai. He waved down Teuchi and ordered a bowl of ramen to go.

He casually eyed Sakura. "You look tired. How much overtime did you put in this week?"

She blushed and quickly looked away. She thought he hadn't notice her late nights in the records room or at her desk preparing his schedule and arranging his meeting notes. The extra work had been a much-needed distraction from worrying about Sai and Yamato in the field. She secretly feared that if she lost sight of Sai or Yamato, they would slip out of her life.

She wondered if Kakashi had felt that way the first time he sent her out on a mission knowing he couldn't follow.

She shyly tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "What kind of assistant would I be if I left before you did?"

"A better rested one. And with these two back, more fun." He teased.

Her eyes widened. "You knew?"

Kakashi winked at her as if to say 'of course I knew' but otherwise didn't get a chance to answer. Yamato popped up from the ground and stole her drink. She glared at him but decided to let him off considering he had tried to stand up for her. Plus, he was currently distracted by Ayame at the far end of counter chatting with a customer.

When she turned back around Kakashi was holding a takeout container. "Take the rest of the evening off, Haruno." He ordered and waved goodbye.

"Hai, Hokage-sama!" She called out happily and turned back around in her stool. "Hey, Teuchi-san, how much do I owe you?"

The older man smiled warmly at the exuberant and strange members of Konoha's elite fighting force. "The Hokage took care of it, Sakura-chan."

"The Hokage is attempting to court you." Sai offered without looking away from his sketchbook.

Sakura's head whipped around to the entrance of Ichiraku to trace Kakashi's outline as he walked down the road to the Hokage tower. Her heart beat wildly in her chest and she flushed crimson at the thoughts circling in her head.

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A/N: A small teasing chapter...the next one was a ton of fun to write.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

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-X-

Sakura rubbed at her eyes and gave up trying to read the scroll with a tired sigh. She would need glasses a decade early if she kept up the eye-squinting. Her focus shifted from the mountain of paperwork on her desk to the crack of golden light seeping under the Hokage's office door.

Kakashi had meetings all day and the stack of papers he needed to read or sign were unending. She did her best to screen them before placing them on his desk but the revolving door of mission requests and correspondence didn't slow. The first thing Sakura learned when she started as the Hokage's assistant was to forge his signature. She signed off on all hospital documents and thank you notes without seeking his approval.

It was a late night for them and she mistakenly thought that work inside the village would free up her time.

Sakura stood from her desk and stretched her back. She reached into one of the drawers and pulled out a bottle of sake and two cups. With supplies in hand, she knocked lightly on his door before entering.

Kakashi looked up from the stack of paper and smiled when Sakura entered with the bottle swinging between her fingers.

"Thank kami. I was two minutes away from sneaking out." He dropped the pen and eagerly rolled up the scroll he was working on.

"I know, that's why I always show up right before you think of leaving." She glanced towards the roof. "Who's on guard duty tonight?"

"Shiranui."

"Genma, go home!" Sakura called out.

She waited. "Hai, Sakura-sama." He replied from some unknown location. They both listened as his footsteps bolted away, happy to leave early no doubt.

Kakashi sighed dramatically, "At one time I was the one that gave the orders."

"The village populace is too smart to respect a known pervert." Sakura sat down across from him and poured their drinks. She passed him a cup and raised hers in a toast. "Happy Birthday, Hokage-sama."

"So formal." He whined with a pout.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Fine. On behalf of all our teammates currently on missions: you're getting old, Kakashi."

"That's better."

They clinked glasses and Sakura dutifully turned away so that they could both down the first shot.

The alcohol made its way through her body and settled warmly in her stomach. She relaxed into the seat and turned questioningly to the man across whose mask was back in place and the empty saucer twirled between his long fingers. "So, big plans for your next year of life?"

He blinked slowly and refilled their cups. "Icha Icha Chaos movie premiere." His eyes slid to hers for her reaction.

Sakura did not blush or pause as she sipped from her cup. Her right eye may have twitched but she was calling it a win. "Age hasn't matured you." She grumbled into her drink.

"What was that, kohai?" He goaded with a fake smile.

Sakura glared openly and crossed her arms. "The only reason I'm the one keeping you company is because you sent away the rest of our teammates knowing they would miss your birthday, _Hokage-sempai_!"

He looked wearily at her. "Naruto would make jokes about my age and how much closer he is to becoming Hokage."

Sakura clucked her tongue. "I would hit him if he started."

A small smile tugged at his lips then disappeared with his next sentence. "But really, what will I do when he takes over?"

Her eyes widened at his melancholic tone and in the next moment she understood.

"Ah, so it's one of those birthdays." Sakura mused. He smiled apologetically for ruining the celebratory mood she was trying to create. She poured them two much needed shots which they quickly dispatched.

"You have a lot waiting for you, Kakashi." Sakura spoke finally. Her eyes were locked on the table to avoid his face. "Whether you decide to travel the world, train genin, open a bookstore, or settle down, you have options. You could do all of it or none of it, it's up to you."

She looked up and met his dark charcoal eyes across the desk. "I'll always support you." Sakura blushed and hoped it came across as the alcohol. "And our teammates will too." She quickly tacked on and turned redder, if that was possible.

His smile warmed at her words. His hand travelled across the desk separating them and his fingertips brushed against her wrist. Sakura jumped at the contact but didn't move out of his reach.

"I'm not keen on losing you to Naruto either." He stated.

Her heart skipped a beat and she swallowed at her suddenly dry throat and his darkened eyes. "Don't worry so much." She replied breezily, "I doubt I'll love any other Hokage that comes along."

With a teasing smile, she met his penetrating gaze and turned her hand underneath his so their palms touched.

She wouldn't be his aid forever. In less than a year, Naruto would take over and as agreed, she would help with the transition before taking her permanent position at the hospital. That would be it for her working relationship with Kakashi. Her feelings wouldn't fizzle. After all the missions and distance, it hadn't changed for a single day.

The long nights spent in the tower had led to more teasing words and softer smiles on his part. Sakura had eagerly eaten it all up with a shy blush, thinking he wasn't aware of his actions but wanting it to mean something after her confession.

And suddenly felt it needed resaying.

His gaze softened and he opened his mouth to respond with what she wished was something other than a thank you when a messenger pigeon landed on the window sill behind his chair and squawked loudly to gain their attention.

Sakura made the first move and pulled her hand back to her lap. Kakashi stood and walked over to the open window to pluck the scroll from the bird's right foot. The pigeon took off immediately.

Kakashi unrolled the message and quickly scanned the words with a deepening frown.

"What is it?" Worried by his expression, she stood and joined him next to the window.

He met her eyes reluctantly at the same time he handed her the paper and she read the inked words with growing trepidation. Sasuke had sent word of an insurgency causing trouble in the Land of Rivers. She knew the details, she had personally written the scroll for the mission after the Hokage requested he check out the rumors in the country a week ago.

The missive Sasuke sent back mentioned his trouble finding the organizations leader and hidden base. He requested ANBU back up and for Sasuke to ask for help raised red flags and alarms.

She raised her eyes and could see Kakashi was already internally going through the list of available shinobi that he could potentially send as back up.

Yamato was in Suna with Naruto. It would take them two days to reach Sasuke's reported holding position. Sai was in Iwa, even further away.

Sakura was already moving before Kakashi could look at her in askance.

"I'm always bailing them out." She complained with a sigh but it lacked any real annoyance.

Sakura hoisted herself onto the window pane and glanced across the rooftops towards her apartment. Her emergency gear was ready and waiting to go in a pack beside her bed.

Kakashi mirrored her exacerbation. "You could always leave Sasuke to fend for himself." He joked and leaned against the open window with his arms crossed over his chest and a teasing smile on his lips.

"And miss the opportunity to save his ass and rub it in his face?" She replied evilly.

Yes, there were other ANBU in the village but when it came to the best person to send as back up to Uchiha Sasuke, it was her. She wouldn't slow him down and knew his fighting style. They easily worked together and trusted one another.

Sakura rolled her shoulders, tense from sitting all day and channeled chakra into her blood to burn the alcohol from her system. If she wanted to make good time, she couldn't be the slightest bit impaired.

With a side-long glance she found he was already staring at her with the same warm expression from before they were interrupted by duty. Sakura hesitated in the window.

"I had planned to take you out for dinner."

"Oh?" His eyebrow raised and his voice was deep with insinuation.

Sakura smacked his arm. "As teammates." She replied hotly. "And you would've stuck me with the bill and said it was my birthday gift to you."

His knowing smirk made her insides flutter. "Well in that case, can I have a different gift instead?"

He turned towards her so that his hip rested against the window close to her right foot and she could feel the heat from his body. God, he was so confident and annoying and handsome. It was no surprise her chest ached at his simple actions and words.

"What?" She asked unsteadily.

"Get home safe. The both of you."

She rolled her eyes. "Hai, Hokage-sama."

Sakura disappeared a second later leaving in her wake a trail of cherry blossoms, smoke, and an amused Kakashi.

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A/N: Hehe...Sakura as the last man standing.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

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-x-

The Uchiha knelt before the desk with his head hung low, not in respect to the Hokage but in shame. The blood covering his chest and arms and the absence of his mission partner were all he needed to understand the situation.

Kakashi was on his feet before Sasuke could speak. The white robe previously draped over his shoulders fell to the ground with his movement.

"Where is she?" He demanded.

Sasuke sunk lower to the floor. "The hospital." His voice was thick with emotion and threatening to break. But Kakashi didn't want to reassure him or assuage those worries without seeing her first. Without warning the Hokage disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

He arrived at the hospital in the same second and took measured strides towards the operating room. The door slammed open with the force of his hand and the chakra swirling around his body.

Shizune jumped and turned from the operating table. "Kakashi!"

He ignored her surprise and scrutinized the room around her. The table, floor, and Shizune's scrubs were bathed in angry splashes of blood. The worst part was Sakura wasn't waiting for him with an amused smile at his flustered appearance, ready to tease him for needlessly worrying about her.

The room was missing its pink-haired doctor.

"What happened?" He managed to grit out.

She glanced wearily at the gruesome state of the room. "Her throat was cut." Shizune mimed the wound with her finger. "She was conscious but mumbling nonsense and somehow managed to use her chakra to stop from bleeding out. I tried to sedate her, but she refused and shot herself up with adrenaline instead." Shizune laughed, "She insisted on healing herself."

"But she's alive?" He asked sternly.

She nodded once. "We moved her to a private room. She's sleeping off the chakra exhaustion and blood loss."

Kakashi let his hand rake over his face in relief and thanked Shizune for her assistance. She provided him with Sakura's room number and went back to sanitizing the operating room.

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…

Sakura sat on the shingles with her knees drawn up to her chin and her gaze cast over the village. Even in the dark the bright white of the bandages wrapped snugly around her neck was visible.

When Kakashi stepped through the window of her hospital room Sakura didn't bother to look and confirm who was on the roof with her. It was him because it could only be him.

"How's Sasuke?" Her concern for her teammate was bellied by her hollow tone. She tugged the hospital gown closer to her body and shivered.

"He isn't injured."

"I didn't mean physically." She corrected sharply.

Sakura couldn't shake the image of Sasuke's face when he realized the extent of her injuries. She couldn't reassure him with the blood choking her words. The shock wore off seconds after the initial trauma, but it was long enough for crimson to soak her uniform before she got her chakra and wildly beating heart under control and began first aid.

Sasuke had looked at her like she was going to die. The despair was so strong, just remembering his heartbroken expression made her want to cry. She knew he saw his parents and brother in her face. The emotionless mask he wore broke in front of her. It took grabbing and pulling on his hand for him to realize he needed to get her home.

The bubble of emotion threatened to leak out of her eyes.

"How close was it?" Kakashi asked.

Sakura swallowed and ignored the throbbing pain.

She desperately wanted to laugh it off. That was what Kakashi did when he was gravely injured, what all her boys did so as not to make others worry. It wasn't something she could manage with Sasuke's terrified expression seared into her memory. And because the first thought that went through her mind after the sword sliced through her skin and her back hit the ground was the ardent wish for Kakashi to be there with her.

She was pathetic.

Sakura grimaced as she turned her tender neck to view the man who had come to mean everything to her. He was an anchor where Naruto and Sasuke had been a storm. Lazy to a fault but fiercely protective of his team, even now when he'd been desk bound for years. He kept everything bottled up until he was a walking, talking question mark.

The man she ardently loved stood there behind her with his mask pooled around his neck.

She stared at him for one impossibly long minute then cast her eyes to the ground. "You have the same expression as him." She accused weakly and tried to swallow her tears. Seeing Sasuke was one thing but seeing the man she loved wearing a face like he almost lost her was worse. Any attempts to stifle her feelings were sabotaged when he looked at her with tight, tired eyes and a downturned mouth.

"But I'm not hurt anymore," Her voice broke, "So please change it."

"I can't do that."

"Why the hell not?" She growled and clambered to her feet to face him properly.

"It's my duty as Hokage." He stated and had she not been angry, she would have been distracted by the way his lips moved when he spoke.

Sakura took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of her nose to keep her emotions in check. "I'm not in the mood for this."

"What if I promise to let you win this time?"

Her eyes swam with the pain of rejection. She chuckled humorlessly. "Liar."

Kakashi's expression softened at her steadfastness, something he always admired in the face of his own insecurity and inaction where it concerned her. She watched mesmerized as the corner of his mouth lifted into a wry smile.

"Two-hundred and sixty-three days."

"What?"

"The amount of days until Naruto is Hokage." He elaborated unhelpfully.

"Your point?"

"I couldn't ask you to play second to the village."

The silence that followed his words was deafening. She expected a half-hearted chuckle or a playful wink to downplay the seriousness of his confession, a final attempt to take it all back.

Sakura shook her head angrily and sprayed fresh tears onto the ground, "The village will always come first whether you're Hokage or not, but you'd make me wait without a promise, without any sign that you felt-

His gaze faltered from her to the ground and Sakura almost missed the self-loathing and regret. Her words choked in her newly-mended throat.

She knew all of the reasons why they couldn't be together, had been repeating them day after day to herself for nearly five years but for the first time she realized those reasons also weighed on him.

"Kakashi, don't keep me waiting anymore." She ordered.

His grey eyes lit up and met her equally soft expression. He crossed the roof towards her with determined strides that reminded her he was the man that suppressed his power under a layer of relaxed confidence on the battlefield.

"You know me," He recovered with his usual grin and stepped closer to her until his body nearly engulfed hers, "I always do things late."

The words had just past his lips when his arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her into him. She chuckled at his gentle roughness and placed a hand on his cheek to follow the outline of his jaw towards his lips. Sakura enjoyed the feel of his warm skin pull into a smile under her fingertips.

"Want me to break you out of the hospital?" He slyly offered.

"Kakashi." She warned and pinched his cheek for good measure.

He pulled back to rub the spot and pout.

Sakura grinned and placed a teasing kiss on the corner of his mouth then jumped away before he could respond. "But, absolutely yes."

His rakish smile as he offered his hand and pulled her gently to him when she accepted made her knees weak. Sakura rolled her eyes at his dramatics and replaced the mask over his face. Kakashi winked and they disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

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-X-

A/N: This was a tough one to write for many reasons. Getting the personalities down, dealing with all the flames I've had for reviews about the pairing, lack of inspiration, etc.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

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-X-

Someone ratted her out.

The only two capable were Kakashi or Sasuke, because no, she didn't believe Shizune would have said anything to her remaining teammates about almost dying. She was immensely touched at their concern and incredibly annoyed when they wouldn't stop acting concerned.

It started unbelievably with Sasuke.

Sakura had just tumbled through her bedroom window with a curse when she heard a knock at her front door. She hastily stripped off her clothes and rushed to pull on a pair of Jonin pants and her red zippered vest.

"Just a second!" She called and checked her appearance in the mirror.

Her hair had seen better days. Sakura smiled as she recalled the hand that ghosted over her stomach an hour ago and the kiss to her collarbone to say, 'good morning'. She threw a comb through her pink locks and decided it was presentable enough.

Sakura ran through her apartment and threw open the front door with a huff. Sasuke stood frozen on the other side.

"What's wrong?" She asked immediately. She couldn't recall him ever coming to her apartment before.

But he wasn't focused on her words. His eyes were focused on the exposed skin at the top of her chest where her vest was open. Sakura mentally cursed and wondered if one of the bites Kakashi made last night was visible. She followed his line of sight and realized he wasn't fixated on some poorly concealed hickey.

The shallow white scar that started at the middle of her neck and curved around the side was the only evidence of her close call. She healed the wound a lot faster than normal without having to stay at the hospital. The razed skin was the only reminder of her brush with death.

"I'm okay."

She reached out and gently touched his wrist where his fingers were curled into tight fists.

Sasuke's eyes flicked from her neck to her face. His bottomless ebony eyes were swimming with guilt and that same fear from the night he rushed her to the hospital.

"Do you…need anything?" He asked unsurely.

Sakura recognized he was trying to make amends. Not that her injury was his fault. Not that she could tell him that and have him believe her. The only way he would stop feeling responsible was to let him do something to make it up to her.

His face was drawn tight with worry and she couldn't help herself. She reached forward and poked him with her index finger on the forehead, where his brows were scrunched. Sasuke's face darkened in annoyance and he petulantly rubbed at the spot.

She smiled back. "Buy me something pretty."

Without waiting for a response, Sakura stepped outside and pulled the door closed behind her. She walked to the end of the hall and beamed when Sasuke mentally shook himself and turned to follow.

She led him through the village to the shopping district and stopped at every jewelry store window to peer at the sparkly necklaces and earrings on display. She spoke loudly about sizing, gaudiness, and the types of events she could wear an emerald necklace to, and really channeled her inner Ino before dismissing the store altogether and moving to the next shop.

At the sixth window, she could practically feel the waves of annoyance from her teammate stabbing at her side.

"Just pick something, Sakura." He growled.

She grinned to herself and nodded. Sakura marched straight into the store she planned on going to since the beginning.

"Welcome! Oh, hi Sakura, Sasuke." Ten Ten greeted warmly and straightened up behind the weapons counter.

Sasuke visibly relaxed in the presence of hundreds of sharpened blades and drifted into the back of the store while Sakura chatted with Ten Ten.

"How's business going?"

Ten Ten surveyed her shop with a current total of two customers with a wry smile. "Could be better but it helps that this is the chosen armory for the Hokage and Naruto."

Sakura nodded enthusiastically. "Naruto is terrible at maintaining his weapons. He's always buying new ones when they get dull."

Ten Ten winced remembering the state of the future Hokage's arsenal and the fact that he would oversee the village's treasury and armory.

"Was there something you were looking for?" Ten Ten asked.

Sakura nodded, "I was hoping my special order came in, I know you said it would be delayed a few days."

Her eyes lit up. "It did! I should have let you know sooner. It's really beautiful too."

Ten Ten disappeared into the back room and reappeared with a long wooden box. She gently placed it on the counter and shimmied off the lid. The gleaming metal caught her eye first. When Sakura first found the tanto in the storage closet at the Hokage's residence, the dulled edge riddled with small nicks was a sad sight. She knew right away who the blade once belonged to and its special properties. Although simple in design, the newly polished blade stood out inside its casing looking like liquid glass. She knew that with the right amount of chakra, the whole thing would glow with a pale white light.

She snuck it out of the house without Kakashi knowing and brought it straight to the weapons mistress for repairs. The metal used to forge it was not native to Konoha so it was sent out of the village a few months ago. She knew it wouldn't make it back in time when Ten Ten updated her about the delay.

Looking at the blade now, it had been worth the wait.

"Is that what you're getting?" Sasuke questioned as he joined her at the register.

Sakura grinned. "It's definitely something pretty."

Sasuke inspected the blade and recognition flashed briefly through his eyes. She ignored his questioning stare. "Can you gift wrap it? And please write 'From Sasuke-kun' on the tag."

Sakura stuck out her tongue at her teammate when he stiffened at her words. "I'll wait outside, make sure to pay for everything." She instructed her teammate and skipped to the door.

Out on the street she patiently waited and watched the mass of people flit through the market. Very rarely was she able to visit during the day. Her work hours kept her inside long after the vendors closed so she usually shopped for groceries at the supermarket near her apartment.

Kakashi had given her a week of leave after her escape from the hospital. She initially refused on the basis of being perfectly healthy, but he argued for his sake that she needed to recuperate. The puppy dog eyes he used forced her hand. Damn him and his abuse of power.

Her head swiveled towards the Tower and wondered if he was doing his paperwork like he promised or thinking of ways to disappear early like yesterday. Not that she minded him showing up at her apartment only to have him make the signs so they reappeared in his bedroom.

"Here." Sasuke's brusque voice cut through her day dream as he roughly shoved a wrapped box into her hands.

She inspected the box and the suspicious folded leather pouch on top.

"What's this?" She asked.

When he didn't respond, Sakura took the time to untie the leather straps and unroll the case. A series of stainless steel medical tools each slotted into the leather stared back at her. She looked from the tools to Sasuke's face.

"Why did you…" She trailed off.

He did the Uchiha version of a shrug. She'd seen more expression and feelings from the stoic man in the last week than all their history combined. For once, Sakura could read underneath and didn't need him to explain himself.

She pulled him in for a hug instead.

"Thank you for bringing me home." She said earnestly.

His arms slowly wound around her smaller frame and tightened as he turned his face into her hair and allowed a wave of relief to consume him. He almost lost someone dear to him for the first time since the war. Sakura was devastatingly strong, but they were all prone to mistakes and it hadn't mattered that he was the one protecting her back.

Sakura held onto Sasuke until he could firmly replace his emotionless mask. When he pulled away he was mostly back to normal except the small smile gracing his lips.

She thanked him again and bid him farewell with her newly acquired weapons in hand. Sakura didn't think to mention the tools he purchased for her were of the dental variety than surgical. She would cherish them all the same.

On her way home was when the second of her teammates found her.

"Sakura-chan!"

She turned just as an orange blur ran into her and she was gripped into a painful hug.

"N-Naruto…can't breathe!" She wheezed out.

He released her and apologized. When she could speak, she yelled, "What the hell are you doing, baka?"

"We heard you were hurt on your mission!" Naruto shouted back and waved at Yamato who trailed up behind him.

Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "Who told you that?"

At her icy tone, Naruto stepped backwards and chuckled nervously. "Hehe, why do you want to know that, Sakura-chan?"

She cracked the knuckles in her free hand. "So, I know who to hurt for ratting on me."

Naruto moved further back and used Yamato as a human buffer from her wrath. "I-I don't remember." He lied and hid behind Yamato's broad shoulder.

"Oh really?" She asked in a sugary voice.

"Really!" Naruto squeaked.

Yamato stared hard into her eyes, not allowing her to break him with her penetrating gaze. When his eye slipped to the exposed skin on her neck and winced, her anger deserted her.

"Sasuke was with me the whole time." She stated and hoped to dispel some of the worry in his expression.

"How are you feeling?" His voice was thick with concern.

More than the rest of the boys, Yamato always gave off an older brother vibe that made it a lot harder to lie. She grimaced remembering the feel of cold steel running through skin and felt the phantom throb in her neck.

Hearing the somber words, Naruto stepped forward and lowered his head apologetically. "We should have been there."

"Baka! You can't drop all your duties and come running whenever I get into trouble. I'm fine." The amount of disbelief in their expressions made her chuckle. "Really. But if you want proof, how about a team dinner tonight? Kakashi mentioned Sai would get back later today."

Naruto's blue eyes immediately lit up with excitement. "Yosh! Let's do ramen!"

Sakura paled at the mention of the carb laden bowl of soup that haunted her dreams.

"Perhaps Sakura should choose, since she was recently discharged from the hospital." Yamato artfully countered.

Naruto was surprisingly not put out and happily agreed that it was Sakura's choice. She smiled and slipped one arm through Yamato's and Naruto's elbows to walk between them. The three strolled through the village and chatted about their latest missions and planned their dinner.

Sakura and Yamato would cook and it would be held at the Hokage mansion since it was the largest of their respective homes. They would tell Kakashi of these plans and Naruto would wrangle Sasuke and Sai.

They dropped her off at her apartment before heading to report to the Hokage. They all laughed over the irony that they would be late getting to the tower but considering who was waiting for them it wasn't a big deal.

Sakura hummed happily as she deposited the box with the tanto on her desk and headed to her bathroom to shower.

She usually didn't have time to get ready for a team dinner. She either came directly from the tower or the hospital and didn't bother to change clothes. Her teammates didn't care how she turned up for their meals but sometimes it was nice to get freshly cleaned and dressed.

Sakura took the time to massage her temples under the stream of hot water and lather soap into her arms and legs before using her favorite mint scented shampoo. Whenever she had a mission or a shift at the hospital she made sure to use unscented bath products in case of sensitive noses or allergies.

Having the week off was more of a treat than she realized.

She turned the shower off and wrapped herself snuggly into a towel then combed through her dampened pink locks in front of the mirror.

Her reflection highlighted the scar, visibly puckered from the hot water, on her neck. Sakura sent a burst of cooling chakra to soothe the inflammation and gingerly probed the tissue. The only other scar she had was the one from her battle with Sasori but it was a mark of pride and remembrance on her stomach.

Sakura shivered at the memory of a certain silver-haired man kissing along her stomach before his smirking face disappeared between her legs. With a goofy smile plastered on her face, she went to her bedroom. She changed into an old shirt of Naruto's she pilfered years ago and pulled on a pair of tan capri pants. Sakura glanced to her bed then to her alarm clock.

There were still a couple of hours before she needed to go over to the Hokage mansion. Sakura grinned and jumped onto her bed. She moaned into the sheets and closed her eyes. She was still recovering, and day time naps were a novelty.

Her exhaustion won out and she fell asleep with a deeply satisfied smile.

The sound of cawing woke her from a pleasant dream filled with the clear ringing of bells and laughter echoing throughout the forest.

She blearily opened an eye and spotted a crow with swirling black ink lines at her window tapping its beak against the glass.

Sakura groaned. "What…Sai?" She mumbled half-asleep.

From inside her room she heard him reply, "I was told you almost died."

His words shook away the last of her sleepy haze and she sat up to face him. Sai sat on the far corner of her bed to the side of her feet. She should have been disturbed by how easily he managed to infiltrate her home while she was asleep had it not been for the familiar thrum of his chakra not setting off warning bells.

"Almost." She admitted.

"I still feel anxious even though you didn't die. Is that normal?"

Unlike Yamato or Naruto or even Sasuke, Sai was direct when it came to his feelings. Mostly because he couldn't tell one feeling from another in distressing situations. She remembered telling him that his reaction to Ino was because he liked her, and it was normal to feel nervous around people you liked.

Sakura scooted down her bed to join him at the end. She peered at him through the din of her room. "It's pretty normal. That feeling never really goes away with the people you care about." She explained fondly.

Sai didn't deny it. He nodded and stood. "Ino said I should bring flowers to people who are in the hospital. But you aren't in the hospital anymore. Do you still require flowers?"

She considered his serious expression for all of two seconds before throwing her head back and laughing. At his perturbed expression, Sakura smiled warmly. "No, I'm good. In these situation, cake is better than flowers."

"Cake?" He questioned.

Sakura resolutely nodded. "Come on. We'll stop by a shop before heading to dinner." She passed him on the way out of the room, "And for the love of god, don't let your bird explode on my carpet again."

His head turned towards the crow still tapping at the glass and shooed the bird away.

By some miracle, the entire team was already waiting when Sakura and Sai turned up, minus Kakashi who wouldn't finish work for another hour or so.

She traded her sandals for slippers at the formal entrance and shuffled down the hall to the living room.

Naruto and Sasuke were sitting next to each other on the couch playing some fighting game on the TV and throwing insults back and forth. She rolled her eyes. Their competition had transcended reality and landed in the virtual world.

"Sakura." Sasuke greeted without taking his eyes off the screen.

Naruto jumped up and turned towards her. "Sakura-chan!"

"Evening!" She responded with a smile. "Is Yamato in the kitchen?"

"Yep! We tried to help but he banished us." He explained with a tad too much enthusiasm for her not to think Naruto purposefully annoyed their teammate.

Sai appeared behind her and started snickering. "You should learn to cook or your wife will leave you, dickless."

Naruto sputtered and started to form his own insult when Sai cut him off. "Also, you're dying." He pointed to his game character.

Naruto flipped back to the screen and screamed, "Oi Sasuke! That's not fair, I wasn't playing!"

"Hn."

Sai entered the living room and pleasantly smiled at a put-out Naruto. "Can I try?"

He glumly deposited the controller into Sai's awaiting hand. Sakura shook her head at their antics and went to help Yamato in the kitchen.

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Kakashi left the tower with a scowl and dismissed Genma with a terse 'go away'. He wasn't in the mood to deal with last minute questions or mission requests and took to the rooftops to expedite his return home.

He knew Sakura did a lot to lessen his work load and with her on leave, he was drowning in papers and responsibility. If anything, she should be the Hokage and him the assistant. Kakashi chuckled darkly as he imagined what Naruto would do if he passed the title to her instead.

He landed on the street in front of his soon to be former home before he had to pack up and leave in nine months. Sakura was already separating his personal belongings from the mass of 'Hokage' related peace tokens and diplomatic gifts that were kept in storage.

His mouth curved into a smile and warmed at the thought of her and the previous nights they shared since he spirited her away from the hospital. Too bad the rest of their teammates were coming to dinner tonight. With an exacerbated sigh, he eyed the yellow glow of light from inside and stepped towards the door.

The first thing he noticed when he entered was five pairs of standard issued sandals neatly placed in the front entry. He followed their example and pulled off his own and reached for the only pair of slippers left, the ratty ones with a hole in the heel.

He walked through the hallway and followed the smell of frying oil and sake. A raucous laughter came from the living room followed by a very Uchiha sounding grunt. Then came the muffled sound of Sai's voice and Naruto shouting expletives.

Kakashi skillfully avoided the living room and continued to the kitchen. The laugh that originated from within was distinctly female.

"Gaara was not pleased to be receiving relationship advice from Naruto of all people." Yamato finished.

Kakashi pulled to a stop outside and leaned against the wall with his hearing trained on their conversation.

"To be fair he is the only married one out of our team." Sakura replied. He imagined the smile pulling at her lips and her green eyes bright with amusement and a hint of mischief. "Of course, that might not be the case for long, hmmm, Yamato-kun? You can't avoid ramen forever."

Something metal dropped to the floor, making a series of clangs followed by a burst of Sakura's laugh. Kakashi's lips twitched into a smile.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Came the less than convincing reply.

Sakura snorted but didn't press. He listened to a knife repeatedly hit a chopping board and the sizzling of oil.

He was content to listen to the sounds of his team for a few more moments.

"You're pretty sly, Sakura." Yamato started, and the chopping paused. "You got us all together under the pretense of celebrating your speedy recovery when actually it's a belated birthday dinner for Kakashi-sempai."

"I don't know what you're talking about." She responded with a voice full of mirth. The cake in the fridge and the present hidden in the dining room were proof.

"Mmhmm. For the record the only person you've fooled is Naruto."

"That isn't very impressive, is it?"

"He will be the Nanadaime."

"So, no." Sakura concluded.

Yamato chuckled and there was some shuffling in the kitchen as they moved around. "The real challenge is tricking our current Hokage who would rather send us all on missions than celebrate himself."

"That's not very hard." She tutted. "He doesn't know about the time Team Echo got arrested for having a contest on who could do the best Sexy no jutsu. Which I won."

"We both know Sai did." Yamato deadpanned. "But you have a point since he still doesn't know about that time the five of us used a henge and pretended to be each other for a day."

Sakura cackled with laughter, "I forgot about that!"

"You obviously know I'm here." Kakashi stated and turned the corner to meet Yamato and Sakura's matching grins.

"It's not polite to eavesdrop, Hokage-sama." Sakura used her false saccharine voice and batted her eyelashes.

He raised an eyebrow at the duo. "I'm more concerned with how much of what you said is actually true."

"None of it." They chorused together.

The fact that they were rehearsed was proof of their guilt but for tonight he would forgive those transgressions and pretend his ninja weren't going around playing pranks and omitting it from their mission reports. He couldn't muster actual anger, so he settled on annoying Sakura instead and swiped one of the tempura piled on a plate.

"Kakashi!" She admonished him. He crinkled his eyes and smiled then reached for another. Sakura sighed. "Yamato, you might as well get the others before the Hokage eats all the food."

He nodded and walked out of the kitchen the exact moment Kakashi pulled down his mask and started munching on his pilfered shrimp. Sakura unabashedly stared at his moving jaw line and licked her lips. His eyes flicked towards her mouth with the movement.

"Hungry?" He asked in a predatory voice.

Sakura blushed. "No. Baka." She turned towards the sink and started to soak the pans.

Kakashi listened as Yamato used his expansive wood jutsu down the hall to force Naruto and Sai to move to the dining room. He used that time to approach Sakura and wrap his arms around her from behind.

She paused with a dish and sponge in each hand and shifted her head up to look up at him. "Did you want to wash?" She asked cheekily.

"Mhm. Later, I will." He nuzzled the top of her head with his nose and Sakura giggled.

She dropped the plate and sponge back into the sink and patted her wet hands on a dish cloth. Sakura relaxed into his back and placed her hands over top of his around her stomach.

She tilted her head upwards and managed to kiss the underside of his chin.

"Welcome home."

"I missed you." He replied.

"Sakura-chan, hurry up! Sasuke wants to arm wrestle! We need you to beat him." Naruto yelled from down the hall.

Kakashi sighed and pulled away from her.

Sakura braced her hands against the counter with mounting annoyance. "You better not break anything, Naruto!" She hollered back.

There was a loud crash.

"Too late." Sai's measured voice responded.

"We could run away to your apartment." Kakashi offered with a smirk.

She grabbed two plates of tempura and took a calming breath. "You're only saying that because you know I'm going to win."

"It's unfair unless you judge."

He grabbed the other plates of food to follow her to the dining room with a definitely damaged table.

"Uh, Kakashi?" Sakura stopped just at the doorway of the kitchen.

"Yeah?"

"Your mask."

The embarrassed blush that covered his face was her reward and with a bark of laughter she disappeared down the hall while he stopped to pull up his mask.

.

.

-X-

A/N: Oh I so enjoyed writing team dynamics! Thank you everyone for you support and encouragement to finish this story.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

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-X-

She turned her hands nervously in her lap. Sakura was uncomfortable sitting in a room full of highly trained lie detectors and making sure her attention wasn't focused on one person in particular.

She was the idiot who suggested monthly Jonin meetings led by the Hokage and was deeply regretting that idea.

"Sakura-chan, want to train today?" Genma leaned over from his seat at the conference table to take up her personal space while Kakashi and Shikamaru wrapped up the agenda.

Sakura learned the formula to dealing with the notorious womanizer: say a little to lead him on but throw in a threat to keep him from thinking he had a shot.

"Well now, Genma, I don't think our hot sweaty bodies exchanging blows is something Aikiko-san would appreciate. She's staring daggers at you...and it looks like she's about to throw one."

Sakura dove out of her chair as a kunai whizzed through the air. He deflected it with the senbon in his mouth before it could maim his person. The kunai changed trajectory towards Sakura and she awkwardly tried to twist away when a hand appeared in front of her with a kunai that countered the projectile and sent it safely to imbed in the floor.

She should have been angry, but her focus was consumed by the warmth at her back and the scent clouding her senses. Seconds passed, and everything resumed.

Sakura righted herself and stepped away at the same time he did. "Thanks, Hokage-sama." She smiled congenially.

"Don't worry about it." Kakashi winked.

She turned her attention on the two guilty parties currently fighting. "Oi! Genma! Aikiko! You could've hurt somebody." She stalked over to the fighting-this-week couple and noticed Kakashi leave the room.

Although the pretense of not having a relationship was demanding, Sakura was receiving the best training in deception. Working with Kakashi and pretending they were only colleagues was difficult at times but incredibly rewarding. No one had guessed their relationship and that included tricking Kakashi's near constant ANBU guards.

They decided to wait until he stepped down and Naruto became the Hokage to announce their relationship. That would be in a few months and they were adults who could be discreet until then, made easier now that Sakura was taking on more responsibilities at the hospital and seeing less of him.

After telling off the jounin couple, Sakura hurried out of the tower towards the hospital.

-X-

Sakura managed to escape the hospital to get lunch somewhere besides the cafeteria. She eagerly picked a cafe and ordered right away. When another person sat down across from her in the booth she did her best not to look up too happily. He always had a way of tracking her down.

She acknowledged him with a polite smile. "Hokage-sama."

"Haruno-sensei." He greeted back.

The unmistakable heat in his eyes and the magnetic pull she felt whenever they were alone was in full effect. She couldn't be this close to him and not be in physical contact. Her foot slid against his under the table and she saw his eyes narrow playfully though he managed to appear the same outwardly bored person.

He folded his hands together and rested his chin on them. "Working late tonight?"

There was something wrong with her because every word and movement seemed incredibly sexy and that was completely unfair. Sakura knew she looked stressed and tired and there was a speckle of blood on her lab coat from her last patient. Compared to the Hokage, Sakura looked like a street urchin.

She sighed audibly. "I'm scheduled until six so barring an emergency, I'll be out by eight."

"What a coincidence, I plan to sneak out of my office and escape my ANBU guard around that time." Kakashi replied happily.

Sakura couldn't help but smile and her smile grew when a plate of onigiri was placed in front of her by the wait staff. She looked lovingly at the little morsels of rice and hurriedly scooped one into her hand.

She leaned in for a bite.

"Haruno-sensei!"

Sakura's right eye twitched and she pulled her foot back to her side of the table. A red-faced Chunin was running through the cafe to her table. The younger woman bowed to Kakashi and turned to her. "There's an emergency at the hospital that requires your presence."

She let the onigiri fall back onto the plate with an audible plop. Sakura reluctantly stood and pulled out her wallet. Kakashi waved her off and placed several bills down from his robe. She thanked him and took one last longing look at her uneaten lunch then followed the shinobi back to the hospital.

Three hours later, Sakura walked out of the operating room with a wearied sigh. Her back was killing her from hunching over a table working on a nasty leg wound. A genin team was practicing jutsu in the training field and like all impressionable youth they tried something highly unpredictable and unstable on their teammate.

She stalked over to the guilty Jounin sensei who was paying close enough attention and the two male teammates sitting worriedly in the waiting room chairs. All three stood when she approached. Sakura pulled off her white medical mask and looked disapprovingly at all of them.

"Sakura-san, how's Miki-chan?" Lee asked immediately.

"She's sedated but the surgery went well." She addressed the two boys, "You can visit her in a couple of days."

They both slumped with relief.

Lee clapped his hands together and shouted, "You are the best doctor in the village!"

She crossed her arms. "You're still in trouble, Lee. Don't even think about visiting her until you've run a thousand laps around the village." She instructed.

He saluted her. "Hai, Sakura-sensei! I will not visit until I've completed two thousand laps around the village on one hand!"

"That's not what I-"

Lee was speeding down the hospital corridor before she could correct him. She couldn't help but smile softly at his never changing energy. She knew Lee would beat himself up about what happened on his watch unless someone admonished him for it. Sakura was only too happy to be that person.

She turned to the rest of the team. "Both of you will go to the Hokage and tell him exactly what happened. Understood?"

"Hai, Haruno-sensei." They answered together and followed the same path as Lee out of the hospital.

They might think she was scary but two minutes with Kakashi after admitting they severely injured a teammate would set them straight for life. She hoped the Hokage took some pity on them.

Sakura pulled off the rest of her surgery dressings and stuffed them into one of the medical waste bins along the hallway before heading back to her office.

She fell into her desk chair with a groan and heard her back crack in several places. Her eyes closed, and she took several deep breaths to overcome her exhaustion and prepare for the report she needed to write about the training incident.

When she opened her eyes, she noticed the white take out container sitting in the middle of her desk, on top of a pile of medical forms. There was a folded slip stuck to the top and she curiously reached over to read it.

 _Eat._

She opened the container and found three onigiri inside waiting for her to devour. Sakura smiled fondly at Kakashi's consideration and finally took a bite of rice. Hopefully, she could meet up with him after her shift for a real meal, just the two of them with no work distractions.

Sakura was literally skipping to the exit doors of the hospital a whole hour earlier than she expected to be done. After her afternoon surgery, there were no other major medicals she had to complete. She checked on a few patients in the wards, including Miki-chan's post-surgery recovery, taught a group of new doctors how to make chakra scalpels, and finished her paperwork.

The day went smoothly, and she could surprise Kakashi at the tower and bust him out early.

She approached the sliding entrance doors and breathed in the outside air when they opened. The light was low hanging over the trees surrounding the building and her first step from the hospital on to the smooth pavement outside felt like freedom.

Then she heard the unmistakable sound of a teleportation jutsu landing in the cordoned off section of the waiting room for emergency medical treatment.

"Sakura-sensei!"

Sakura glanced fleetingly at the outside world before turning on her heel and heading back inside.

She rushed over to the ANBU team that teleported in and threw her bag to one of the nurses who was attempting to triage them. There was a strict rule that only doctors with the highest clearance could perform surgery on ANBU members to protect their identities.

Sakura spotted bone jutting out of a chest and a river of blood splashing to the hospital floor. She rushed to the injured ninja's side and inspected the wound closer. Something had torn the man's chest open and most of the ribs were exposed and broken. She could make out some of the internal organs through the breaks.

"Get me a stretcher!" Sakura barked to the closest nurse. She turned to the other three masked men and gave them orders, uncaring of who was behind the mask. "Bring Yamanaka Ino here." One of the men disappeared instantly. She pointed at the other two in turn. "Debrief the Hokage and you, assist me until the other medic arrives."

A gurney appeared next to Sakura and she indicated the ANBU to help her move his teammate on top. Sakura pressed a hand bathed in healing chakra to his heart once he was set up. She cringed when his heart was on the verge of giving out.

She didn't hesitate and clambered on to the gurney and started directing her chakra to the broken blood vessels. Sakura directed the ANBU to wheel them into the nearest operating room and to seal the door with chakra behind them. She didn't need to be interrupted by someone without clearance walking into the room.

"Remove his mask."

The ANBU moved closer and pulled away his teammates mask. "Oh, shit." Sakura cursed when she recognized the unconscious face as one of the men who belonged to her division in the war.

She bit the inside of her cheek to keep her emotions in check and keep calm. Sakura jumped to the ground and grabbed a scalpel to slice through the clothes covering his torso.

Sakura took a deep breath to center herself and repeated what she needed to do over in her head. Start a transfusion, set the bones, stop the bleeding. She ran to the refrigerated storage in the operating room and grabbed six bags of blood and quickly set up an IV. The needle was inserted into the nin's arm just as a hard knock sounded at the door.

"It's Ino."

Sakura indicated for the ANBU to let her inside.

Ino rushed through the door once the chakra barrier was down and looked in muted horror at Sakura's appearance. Blood covered her from head to toe and made even more visible on her pink and white civilian clothes. Ino took the time to scrub up after the ANBU pulled her out of the Torture and Interrogation offices. The instances of infection were significantly higher without wearing sterilized dressing gowns.

"Sakura, wha-"

"It's bad." She cut her off. Ino finally looked over to the patient and paled when she saw his open chest.

"You're dismissed." Sakura addressed the two ANBU teammates who hovered by the door. They nodded sharply and closed the door behind them.

"Listen, Ino, we don't have time. I need you to mend the ribs while I maintain blood flow. Do you understand?" Sakura's face was pinched with anxiety.

Her words struck a cord and Ino snapped back to herself. "Yes, I understand."

They each took a side and nodded to each other. Their hands lit up with chakra and both went to work, keeping a close eye on his pulse and breathing.

Five hours later and Sakura's chakra began to give. Sweat was covering her brow and neck but the ANBU still had a whole in his chest. They had managed to get the ribs back to their original positions and heal some of the surrounding tissue but he went into cardiac arrest twice during that time. His heart and brain couldn't take a third flat line.

"Sakura, take a break." Ino stated when her arms began to shake.

She wiped at her forehead. "I can't. You know I can't." Sakura responded and met Ino's gaze head on.

They were both medics and understood that it was impossible to stop until exhaustion made you black out or the patient died. Ino didn't try to reason with her, especially when it was their comrade on the table.

Sakura paused and reached for the bottle of Soldier pills from the gathered supplies. She unscrewed the cap and dry swallowed one.

Ino grimaced but didn't comment.

At four in the morning, Sakura and Ino officially declared time of death. They were both equally keyed up and exhausted from the surgery. Sakura left first while Ino took care of the arrangements for the deceased.

She didn't bother to change clothes before she left the hospital. She threw on a jacket to cover the blood stains on her once nice clothes and hoped the night would obscure the rest.

On autopilot, she weaved through the village until she was inside and heading straight to the bathroom. She woodenly undressed and turned on the shower to the hottest setting before entering. When the water hit her skin, she hissed from the soreness of her muscles.

Sakura robotically went through her bathing routine and cleaned her skin with surgical precision. She tried not to think of ribs sticking in the air as she cleaned the blood from under her fingernails. The bubble of anxiety in her stomach and throat begged to be addressed but she couldn't make herself let it out.

She healed dozens of people every day, some of them close to death but it always hit harder when she knew the person. He was a trusted comrade who died under her care and her mind knew that she was in shock. The human psyche was a delicate thing and keeping it bottled up would only make her feel worse but it was impossible to scream or cry and let out how terrified and weak losing a patient made her feel.

She blinked rapidly to force the tears but they refused to come. With a sigh, she turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. Sakura dressed mechanically in an old training shirt of Kakashi's. It was riddled with small holes from too many washes, but it smelled like him and she secretly loved it. She shuffled through the house to the bedroom.

Upon entering she was eagerly met by wagging tails and eight bright pairs of eyes. Sakura gave the ninken a watery smile and crawled into the bed. Urushi pulled the edge of the blankets over her body and she scratched him behind the ears in thanks. Then the dogs jumped up onto the other side of the bed and arranged themselves around her like a giant furry security blanket.

Sakura wrapped herself around the bundles of warmth and willed herself asleep.

She was woken hours later by the dip in the mattress. Her eyes blearily opened and watched Kakashi quietly dismiss his summons. He traded his uniform for lounge clothes and slid in to bed from the other side. His hand found hers underneath the covers and gently squeezed. She rolled herself into his side and laid her cheek against his chest. His arm curled around her shoulders and pulled her close.

"Sorry about your day." He whispered.

She nuzzled into his warmth and closed her eyes against the images of death.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked after a few minutes of silence.

Her hand splayed out on his chest and felt the beats of his heart underneath her palm. "Ask me again tomorrow." She replied shakily.

He nodded and stroked her back until she fell asleep.

-X-

Kakashi was gone before Sakura woke up in the morning. Her shift at the Hokage tower started at least an hour ago and she struggled to find motivation to go to work when even the Hokage didn't find it necessary wake her up.

She considered her options: stay in seclusion, wallow, and not face the world for the day or get her ass up, get moving, and start on a distraction. Not once in her history did she sit down and give up, it wasn't part of her way of the shinobi.

Sakura rolled out of bed and stalked over to the dresser. She chose her usual shinobi outfit from the second drawer and changed. Without stopping for breakfast or some other thing that would keep her inside until her energy waned, Sakura determinedly pulled on her sandals and headed out the door.

She fell into work the moment she stepped through the entrance of the Tower. There wasn't time to slowly get into the rhythm of paperwork or worse to dwell on worse things. Sakura happily took to her desk and started to sift through the piles of mission requests. The hum of chakra beyond the closed doors to the Hokage's office was strong and stable in the background.

Around noon Kotetsu came by her desk.

"Sakura, do you want to do you hospital review now? I can cover the desk."

"Oh, it's that time of the month already? Sure, the Hokage is free now too." She grabbed her reports and entered the office, closing the door behind her.

"Hokage-sama!" Sakura shouted upon seeing the scene in front of her.

Kakashi lazily looked up from the scroll he was reading to the bewildered expression on her face.

"Yes?"

"This has to be the first time since you became Hokage that you are actually just working." Sakura explained.

Kakashi gave her a droll stare. "Haha, very funny."

She smiled and walked around his desk to hand over the report she wrote on the hospital's operations for the last month.

"As expected our efficiency is still rising at a steady rate. With the number of patients we're seeing from outside communities and the increase of hospital staff it's not hard to imagine we have the largest medical facility in Fire country." Sakura reported and turned to stare out the window behind the Hokage.

Kakashi thumbed through her report and nodded. "How is the medical training course coming?"

Sakura beamed. "Great. The recruits are doing well, and it was a good idea to include shinobi from the other nations."

"Will they be combat ready?"

She sighed and leaned back against the edge of his desk. "I can't teach them to be fighters. Some have a background and would do well under field pressure, but others are meant solely for the operating room."

Kakashi, seemingly mollified by her answers, closed the report on his desk with finality. When he leaned back to catch her eye, she braced herself.

"You didn't have to come in today."

His grey eyes were soft and rooted in concern. She felt the tell-tale prick of tears in her eyes and had to look away from him to keep her emotions in check.

"I didn't want to be alone."

Kakashi took her hand, hanging by her side into his. "I'm sorry to have left you." He intoned apologetically.

Sakura smiled bereft. "Every time I lose a patient, it means you lose a shinobi."

"Knowing they were in your care means there was truly nothing that could have been done."

Sakura turned her head towards him and swallowed heavily as the first tears ran down her face. Faster than she could follow, Kakashi was on his feet and wrapping her in his arms. She sobbed and balled his vest in her hands. He rubbed her back and let her spill all of those built up frustrations.

When her tears dried, and her eyes were an angry red, Sakura pulled away from his embrace. She fanned her face and used a fresh bandage from her pouch to wipe her cheeks.

"Better?" Kakashi asked.

She turned to him and smiled at his concerned expression. "Better." Sakura leaned forward and stood on the tips of her toes to plant a chaste kiss to his masked lips. "Thank you, for worrying."

Kakashi's eyes softened and he brushed an errant pink hair from her face. "I love you. I never stop worrying."

She blinked several times to keep the fresh tears to bay. "You haven't said it before."

His smirk made her heart skip a beat. "If you want me to tell you every day I will."

"Well maybe not every day…" Sakura grinned.

Kakashi leaned towards her and pulled his mask down. She eagerly met him half ways for a lingering kiss. His hands wrapped around her smaller frame and lifted her onto the desk without breaking contact. Sakura ran her fingers through his hair and pulled him closer until his wider frame dominated hers.

Her lower half burned with want. She pulled away to nip at his ear and whisper, "Can you take a break? We only need twenty-" Sakura yelped as Kakashi pulled her body flush with his. "Fifteen minutes." She amended.

His wolfish grin went in for another kiss when they heard a loud, "You have to knock, Naruto!" Come from beyond the door.

In less time than it took for their boisterous teammate to turn the handle and open the door, Kakashi had pulled up his mask and taken his seat at the desk while Sakura straightened her white coat and grabbed the report she originally came into discuss and took her station to Kakashi's left.

Naruto waltzed in with Shikamaru hot on his heels. "Oi, Kakashi-sensei, oh hi Sakura-chan, why can't I go on the mission with Shikamaru to Waves?!"

Sakura's pasted on grin, cracked. "Naruto, we're in a meeting! You can't come barging in whenever you like." Her pent-up frustration made her uncomfortably hot and caustic. Damn Naruto and his timing.

Naruto apologized then immediately started ranting about all the reasons he had to go on a simple peace keeping mission to Waves when he really just wanted to see old friends. Sakura was determined not to let her anger go when she felt Kakashi take her hand underneath the table out of view of their audience.

She didn't startle or show any outwards signs of recognition even when his thumb started tracing trace lazy circles over her skin. Her annoyance crumbled, and she squeezed his hand tightly.

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-X-

A/N: We're so close to the end folks!


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

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Sasuke laced his hands together and looked them each in the eye with a grave expression before speaking. "We all know why we're here."

Sakura looked up from her cup of green tea and raised her hand. "Um, I don't actually. Why are we here?"

Naruto had called a team meeting earlier that day or at least that's what he said when he ambushed her outside of the Hokage tower after she finished for the day. Then he whisked her off to the Hyuuga compound before she could punch him with a chakra infused fist and go home.

Sasuke shot her an unimpressed glare which she returned. Before he could answer her question, Naruto replied, "To complete a mission from twelve years ago!"

Sakura stared at him in confusion until it suddenly jolted into place. Naruto said team meeting and strangely one of their teammates was missing. He had taken her to the Hyuuga compound instead of Ichiraku, his go to for ALL team outings.

"You want to see what's under Kakashi's mask!" She accused.

Naruto jumped over the low tea table and threw his hands over her mouth. "Shhh, not so loud, Sakura-chan! The Hokage has spies everywhere." He whispered for the first time in his life.

"I don't understand." Yamato stated.

"Nor do I." Sai added.

Sakura smacked Naruto on the back of the head when he didn't immediately drop his hand from her face. He let out an embarrassed and placating chuckle and took a seat. "When we were genin, the three of us tried to get Kakashi to take off his mask. It was stupid and the closest we got was finding out there was another mask underneath." Sakura explained.

"We were children then. We're smarter and there's five of us now." Sasuke concluded.

Sakura rolled her eyes but noticed Yamato was sitting unnaturally upright on the tatami mat. "Yamato-kun?" She called and reached over to touch his shoulder.

He jumped up from his respectful kneel and yelled, "I've wondered for twenty years!" His breathing was quick and fast with excitement. Sakura reeled back from him and covered her ears.

"I'm also curious." Sai added.

The four men turned towards Sakura who sputtered in disbelief. Naruto was the first to try and convince her. He shuffled towards her on his knees. "Come on Sakura-chan, don't you want to know if Kakashi-sensei has buck teeth or fish lips?"

"No, Naruto. I don't." She responded sourly.

Naruto put on his best puppy dog expression and almost whimpered. "Ne Sakura-chan, I'm going to be Hokage soon and if I don't do this then I think somehow I'm not ready."

Her mouth dropped open in silent protest at the spectacular manipulation coming from, debatably, her most innocent teammate. There was only seven days left until she had to start calling him Hokage. She screwed her eyes shut and turned away. Naruto would not sway her with his tricks.

Sasuke pushed Naruto roughly out of the way. "First person to see under his mask before the ceremony gets to ask the others to do anything." He stated simply.

Her eyes popped open and one delicate pink eyebrow rose in interest. "Anything?"

The men looked between each other for confirmation then firmly nodded their approval at the added incentive.

"Fine. You're on." She smirked dangerously as she looked at her fellow competitors.

All she would need to do for the next few days was sit back and watch them come up with ridiculous schemes to unmask Kakashi. He wouldn't fall for any of them and Sakura would swoop in for the win at the end. She couldn't wait to come up with something embarrassing for her losing teammates to do.

-X-

Sakura swiftly walked into the Hokage's office and dropped a stack of paper and scrolls in the middle of his desk. She looked past Kakashi at Sasuke and Sai standing guard next to the open window, flanking either side of his chair, and dressed head to toe in black armour, faces obscured by white masks.

She eyed them suspiciously then addressed Kakashi. "Why are these two guarding you?"

"They volunteered in light of some threats made against me." He replied and leaned back in his chair.

She was tempted to call Sasuke and Sai out for pretending there was a threat on the Hokage's life days before he retired just to win a stupid bet but their preoccupation had the added benefit of allowing her to plan the ceremony free of distraction and their inevitable interference.

"I'm surprised Naruto isn't here vowing to never leave your side." She half-joked.

Kakashi stared unblinkingly at her. "He came in earlier screaming that I was losing my edge and made me promise to train with him at lunch every day this week." He deadpanned.

Sakura nodded understandingly then paused, "Lunch was four hours ago and you didn't go anywhere."

"I know." He smiled brightly.

Sakura crossed her arms angrily. "He's going to burst in here any moment, isn't he?"

"Undoubtedly." Sai responded and Kakashi nodded enthusiastically in agreement. Sasuke remained unmoving and stoic, but even he rolled his eyes.

She slammed her hands down on the table, startling all three men. A hairline fracture appeared in the wood under her palm. Her eyes flashed dangerously. "If Naruto causes a huge disturbance while I'm preparing for his own Kage acceptance, you three will be to blame. Understood?"

"Hai, Haruno-sensei." They answered together.

She glared and turned on her heel to stomp back out of the office.

Sakura returned to her desk and sat down with a curse. They were serious. Sasuke, Naruto, Sai, and presumably Yamato weren't playing around. They already figured out the keys to seeing under Kakashi's mask: timing and opportunity. Sasuke and Sai stacked the odds of being there when it happened by taking guard shifts. Wherever Kakashi went they would dutifully follow and it increased their chances of seeing him remove the mask. Then there was Naruto's approach of creating situations that would force the mask off like sparring.

Who knew what Yamato was planning.

She needed to be careful or one of them might win this thing.

Sakura sighed audibly and returned to signing the dangerous amount of forms to make her idiot teammate the Nanadaime.

-x-

Sakura was beyond furious.

The unfortunate ANBU forced to fetch her from her home disappeared the moment he got her to the bar. Her murderous aura made everyone in her war path run to the sides until she had direct sight on the two people who forced her out of bed at two in the morning.

Kakashi was drunkenly dancing around the bar while Yamato cheered him on. The Hokage's hat and jacket were haphazardly thrown over a stool and Kakashi was getting ready to pull off his long-sleeved shirt next.

Her victims were blissfully unaware until Sakura decided she had enough. "Yamato-taichou! Hokage-sama!" She shouted.

Yamato froze instantly at her voice and fear washed over his face. Next to him, Kakashi drunkenly perked up and smiled. "Sakura!" He cheered. Kakashi held up a cup of sake and sloshed liquid all over the floor. "Have a drink!"

She ignored Kakashi and stalked over to Yamato until she was close enough to hiss, "I can't believe you got the Hokage drunk just to win a bet!"

He guiltily hung his head. "Sorry."

"Eh, Sakura, don't be mean to Yama-chan!" Kakashi whined and threw his arms around her shoulders. Yamato cringed at the nickname.

She turned her head to the inebriated village leader with a frown. "Why on earth did you drink so much?"

He puffed up his chest. "I must set an example for the village before Naruto ruins everything." He loudly declared.

"You're aware the last Hokage was known for binge drinking?"

Kakashi's eyes lit up with wonder. "How do you know that?"

Sakura pinched the bridge of her nose and took a calming breath. It wasn't his fault alcohol made him stupid, she reminded herself. With a gratuitous amount of composure, she managed to speak without yelling.

"How about we get you home, Hokage-sama?" She asked sweetly then muttered under her breath, "Which you are, for five more days."

Kakashi pulled away and covered his chest with a gasp. "I won't be taken advantage of!"

Her eyebrow twitched.

"I promise to keep your purity intact." Sakura gritted out.

Yamato apologized and thanked her for seeing him home. Sakura tugged on Kakashi's hand and led him through the bar to the street outside.

"How drunk are you really?" She asked once they were a small distance away from the crowd out on the street.

Kakashi scratched his chin thoughtfully, a slow grin spread across his face. "Not so much if you wanted to fool around." He replied.

Sakura resisted the urge to hit him or tear down his mask and kiss him. Her aggravation was stymied by the fact she had never seen him drunk before and alcohol seemed to make him more openly affectionate. There was a good chance her teammates were following them in the surrounding streets and rooftops. If this was how they found out Kakashi meant a great deal to her, she would be pissed. They were less than a week from coming out about their relationship after _months_ of sneaking around.

He draped an arm around her shoulders jolting her out of her thoughts and planted a kiss on the top of her head. "Sorry, for waking you." He apologized.

Her eyes softened, and she lightly squeezed his hand, momentarily forgetting the bet. "You're forgiven."

They reached the Hokage manor and Kakashi let go to unlock the front door. With his back turned, she scanned the street and houses for Sasuke or Sai's chakra. She wasn't worried about Naruto, bet or not, he would be dead asleep at this hour.

"Staying over?"

She jumped at his voice and turned back to him. "I can't tonight."

Sleeping over was strictly off limits until the week was over. Sakura half-expected one of the boys to break into his bedroom in the middle of the night to get the drop on him while he slept. There were no telling what bones she might break if she was there too.

Sakura stepped away and turned back down the street. "Drink some water before you go to sleep." She ordered over her shoulder.

-X-

Sakura poured two cups of sake on the cement platform of the cenotaph. She held up her cup and toasted the fallen who would not witness the impending inauguration.

"Well, all said the village was and will be in good hands. Kakashi didn't monumentally screw up being Hokage. He may have shocked a few visiting nobles with his leisure literature but, as you know, his sense of duty borders on obsessive. Naruto became the person everyone looks to for guidance and he never wavered in his convictions. These men who have followed in your footsteps, they do you proud. Please rest peacefully knowing that they're well-loved."

Sakura raised her cup to the sky and took her drink.

She took a deep breath and turned away from the monument of the dead. Directly in her eye line was a different sort of monument. Construction to the Hokage mountain began few weeks ago to include its soon to be addition. God, who would've imagined she would have to look at Naruto's face every day? Who would've thought she would get used to seeing Kakashi's up there too?

She shook her head with a smile and started walking towards the tower. The sun was low on the horizon but there was too much to do in too few days before Naruto took over. Yes, she was stressed and with the added annoyance of the bet going on she was on high alert at all times during the day.

Thinking about the bet triggered an eye-twitch. What she wouldn't give to…ugh, her teammates were driving her up the wall. Sakura sighed and refocused when she walked past the training grounds.

Her steps slowed until she was rooted in place and gazing out to the long-abandoned field. Forgoing the pressing work waiting at her desk, Sakura cut down the hill closest to the three wooden posts marking the area. She reached out and stroked the solid post with nostalgic warmth.

Even after so many years, that first day as Team Seven was crystal clear in her memories. She could hear the bells ringing.

"If I remember correctly, Sakura-sensei, you hated Naruto guts and swooned every time Sasuke spoke." His deep lazy drawl snapped her out of her reverie.

Sakura grinned and turned around. Kakashi met her gaze and smiled in his usual lazy manner. "At least I've changed as a person, what about you? Over a decade has passed and I can still make out the shape of porn in your weapons pouch, Hokage-sama."

"I treasure routine."

"No, you're just too lazy to change it." She muttered under her breath. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you." He answered. Sakura's eyes darted to the tree lines. "I came alone." He answered her unasked question.

She didn't trust Naruto's abilities to mask his chakra or the rest of her teammates from hiding so not even Kakashi could sense them.

"Was there something you needed?" She responded distractedly.

"Let's go on a date."

"What?" She questioned as if his words were another language.

Kakashi smirked at her confusion which only made her angry. Then his eyes softened, and he leaned in towards her. "You've done so much, Sakura. Take the night off. The village will be fine without you and me for an evening."

His siren song was enticing but she knew it would lead to a shipwreck. Sakura was shaking her head before she fully formed an excuse.

"Can't. I have too much to do. Naruto's robes and I have to check in on the monument construction." His face fell, and Sakura had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from changing her mind.

"Would you walk me back to the tower?" She hesitantly asked.

"Of course."

They walked shoulder to shoulder through the streets of Konoha in companionable silence. The sun was racing to the horizon and the night would soon take over the sky. In less than a week they would be able to properly act as a couple and it seemed like such an insignificant thing, but it meant the world to her.

To have him as her own.

A giddy and light feeling filled her.

They reached the tower and Sakura turned to him to say goodnight. He had been working double time to tie up the loose ends of his leadership and was as busy as her.

"Night, Sakura. Don't work too late." He leaned in and kissed her cheek, uncaring of someone seeing. She knew without him saying that he was looking forward to moving forward with her and no longer carrying the weight of the village on his shoulders.

Kakashi turned away and started back into the streets when she called out to stop him.

She watched him halt and turn back to face her. He met her earnest expression somewhat perplexed but waited patiently for her to speak. "I don't want to forget in the midst of Naruto's big day…Thank you for being Hokage." She bowed and stayed in the position. "Thank you for taking care of the village. Thank you for guiding our teammates and protecting us."

Sakura straightened, her cheeks rosy with embarrassment and met his gaze. She knew that look, the same one he always gave her when he was about to kiss her senseless.

"I'll see you tomorrow." She rushed to say and fled into the Tower without looking back.

Two more days she reminded herself.

-X-

"Yo."

"Kakashi!" Sakura's hand flew to her chest. "What are you doing here?" She stood from her crouch on the Academy rooftop to face him.

The bulky green vest of her uniform made her movements slow and awkward. She hadn't worn the standard issue items since the war when she traded them for a doctor's coat and an ANBU mask. Kakashi was also dressed up and she bet he would give anything to wear a Jonin uniform instead of the formal Kage robes. At least he hadn't donned the hat, it was clutched in his right hand.

"You've been avoiding me."

Sakura was quick to kill that train of thought. "Of course not! I've just been busy with the inauguration."

His grey eyes appraised her slowly. "You've grown more distant the closer to Naruto's succession. What are you hiding?"

"I'm only busy. Really." She reassured.

"You're lying."

Sakura weighed the consequences of telling him the truth. She hoped he would never know about the last week but if the cost was his insecurity, Sakura couldn't pay it. Besides, there was only an hour left until they stood next to Naruto while he took his oath. The bet would officially be over.

"We made a bet that whoever got your mask off first would get to order the losers to do anything!" She nearly screamed with frustration.

Kakashi's eyes widened and then the last week's events came crashing down. Sasuke and Sai had volunteered to guard him after a supposed threat. Naruto invited him to train every single day. Yamato took him to the bar to drink even though the wood user hated alcohol. All of these thoughts were quickly over taken by another.

"You're not having second thoughts about us?" He clarified.

"Of course not!" Sakura huffed in mild annoyance that he would even think it. She went on to explain, "I know technically I've already won the bet, but I couldn't let them see us before-"

Kakashi pulled her against him in the same second, he pulled down his mask with his other hand. The tilted up right corner of his mouth came into view first from his smirk, then the rest of his mouth was revealed seconds before he descended on her for a breathless kiss.

Sakura may have been unprepared, but she responded ardently to his coaxing with his mouth and relaxed into his hold. Her skin was on fire from a week of pent up frustration and yearning. It was over too soon when he pulled away and fixed his mask back into place. Sakura was still dazed from the suddenness of his actions.

"NANI?!" Naruto shrieked.

Sakura whirled around and found them confronted by their teammates.

Naruto's mouth was opening and closing rapidly like a fish. Sasuke and Sai were far more reserved with only a mouth quirk and raised eyebrow between the two of them. Yamato was frozen but his left eye was twitching like crazy.

"So technically I won." Sakura stated to break the ice.

"You cheated." Sasuke accused.

Naruto suddenly switched gears and pointed accusingly at them. "Ya! It doesn't count if you seduced Kakashi-sensei!"

Kakashi wrapped an arm around her shoulders and smiled. "Relax, Naruto. It certainly wasn't the first time. Right, Sakura?"

She didn't say anything to deny it and barely listened as they all talked over each other about the rules of the bet.

She was struck by them, the men that ruled her world.

Yamato, Sai, and Sasuke matched her in their own green vests and navy pants. They were teammates in their matching uniforms, men she trusted with her life and fought alongside for more years and in more missions than she thought possible. Naruto with a smile as bright as the sun was wearing a white cape emblazoned with his new title and the red flames of their home.

Her gaze lingered on Kakashi's profile as he continued to defend her win and his innocence in helping her. He stepped away from her when Naruto declared he could take on the Copy-nin if he really tried. Kakashi advanced forward with the Hokage hat still in his hand and challenge sparking in his dark grey eyes.

She got so lucky.

Sakura sniffed and the first of her tears started.

All five men stiffened instantly and turned to look at her with varying degrees of alarm. Naruto stepped toward her hesitantly. "Oi, Sakura-chan, I didn't mean it," He held up his hands in placating gesture, "You won! You won for sure."

Two seconds from Hokage but the sight of his only female teammate crying was enough to stop him in his tracks. Sakura chuckled and wiped her tears with the back of her hand. "Baka. I'm not crying about the stupid bet."

He shared an uncertain look with the other men on the roof when her tears didn't stop.

"Then why are you crying, Ugly?" Sai asked but couldn't keep the concern out of his voice.

She took a deep breath, "I-I didn't think we'd get here…together."

Her watery eyes could only make out their rough shapes in the silence that followed. But she imagined her heavy words were sinking in as they each reflected on all the moments that made this one possible.

Like flashes from the past she recalled an eraser dropping on gravity-defying hair, walking up a tree in the Land of Waves, cutting her hair with a kunai in the Forest of Death with two unconscious teammates behind her, reviving a fish as Tsunade looked on with pride curving her mouth into an approving smile, holding Chiyo-sama in her arms and thinking she should be used to death, Sai showing her a picture book he drew as a child, Yamato making the signs for the jutsu to seal the Kyuubi, Naruto appearing in the midst of battle with only one question directed at her, standing shoulder to shoulder with Kakashi on the battlefield when war broke out, and fighting together as Team Seven one last time.

Those moments weren't particularly good, and she recounted all the tears of frustration, grief, and pain she shed throughout.

Yet when she looked at the men assembled before her she knew it was worth it. The memories of the hard times sometimes plagued her nightmares and her heart, but it was the other moments over the last ten years that brought her tears.

Yamato and Sai complaining again when she got them kicked out of an inn for threatening the sexist owner only to do the same thing whenever someone dared catcall her; Naruto, red-faced and shy telling her he asked Hinata out on a date, Sasuke returning from a mission to find himself only to realize he never needed to leave the village to do that, Naruto's smile, Sasuke's mischievous smirk, Sai's first honest smile when he mentioned Ino, and Yamato's secret eye rolls reserved for her when their teammates did something childish.

And Kakashi.

His smile, growing more lines each year, still managed to make her heart skip a beat when it was directed at her, who lived through two wars and three team formations, a man she had saved as many times as he saved her, that wore a hat and title he never coveted for the village's sake, who with one word could make a bad day turn good, and who took the time to fall in love with her.

"You were our rock."

Sakura's eyes widened and flitted over to Sasuke. His words paused her tears. Naruto chuckled and nodded his head.

"He's right!" The blonde soon-to-be-Hokage exclaimed.

Sai nodded thoughtfully. "You have an annoying habit of being everywhere."

"And breaking down walls." Yamato added.

Kakashi stepped closer to her and nearly whispered for only her to hear, though she was certain the highly-trained shinobi around them caught every word, "And healing every person who strays too close."

He reached forward to take her hand and slowly brought it to his masked lips for a gentle kiss. She flitted from his eyes to the faces over his shoulder that shined with gratitude. Her heart swelled, and she shook her head at the light silly feeling in her stomach.

"Naruto, I won right?" She called out.

"Yea," came his soft reply, "you won."

Her mouth broke into a smile. "Good. Cause I know what I want you all to do."

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A/N: YAS! That's a wrap folks. Thank you for indulging in my fan fic of how I wish Naruto should've ended.


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